Court Rejects Cruise Ship Blast Claims !!!
 

NCL has blood an their hands.


http://news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050119/ap_on_re_us/cruise_ship_explosion_1


Court Rejects Cruise Ship Blast Claims

MIAMI - A federal appeals court has upheld a decision forcing the
families of more than two dozen Filipino sailors killed and injured in
a cruise ship boiler explosion to pursue their financial claims in the
Philippines.



The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (news - web sites) in Atlanta
agreed Tuesday with a Miami judge that contracts the sailors signed
require that any injury claims be submitted to arbitration in the
Philippines.


Calls for comment Wednesday to attorneys handling the case were not
immediately returned.


Eight sailors died and 18 were injured after a boiler exploded while
the 1,035-foot Norway was docked in Miami in May 2003. The
investigation into the cause of the blast is still under way.


Ten Filipino crew members and their survivors sued to pursue their
claims in U.S. courts. The decision to send their claims overseas means
the difference between potentially millions of dollars in awards from
American courts and $50,000 for each dead sailor in the Philippines.


Launched as the France in 1960, the 2,000-passenger Norwegian Cruise
Lines ship was towed to Germany after the blast and has retired from
the company's fleet.


Filipino sailors sign a one-page contract to work for cruise lines and
initial other pages explaining their legal rights. Attorneys
representing the sailors and families argued that the page printed in
English, normally not the sailors' native language, doesn't mention
arbitration and is never explained to them.


Norwegian contended the content of the agreements are universally known
among those who sign them.