Passsengers had begun to see their lives flashing before they eyes, after a 70-foot-high rogue wave slammed into the Norwegian Dawn off the coast of South Carolina on April 16, 2005
Lifejackets were passed out, and passengers rushed to their muster stations not sure if they would be going down with the ship.
The ship was on the way back to New York, after a trip to the Bahamas, when the weather turned nasty, and the ship was slammed with a 70 foot wave. Passengers said cabins on the 10th floor were soaked as well.
Passengers with cabins that were ruined were flown home after the ship docked in Charleston harbor to have the ship inspected. It was reported that over 60 cabins were flooded, windows were broken out, and debris was on the floor after water carried belongings and furnishings beyond their normal place.
The U.S. National Transporation Safety Board subsequently ruled that while the rough weather made the voyage unpleasant, "the safety and integrity of the ship was in no way compromised." The NTSB called it "an unavoidable encounter with severe weather and heavy seas."
A class action $100-million lawsuit was filed, on behalf of all injured passengers. U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga says it is not appropriate for class-action status.
In a 20-page decision , Altonaga said that not all passengers suffered equally in the incident, and many have said they suffered no injury at all.
Passengers claimed Norwegian Dawn sailed into a heavy storm to keep an appointment to appear in the TV show The Apprentice. Norwegian Cruise Line admitted the ship's return had been pushed up a week before departure -- from 10 a.m. Sunday to 5 a.m. so they could meet the deadline for the television show.
Some passengers claim that had the company done the right thing, they would have avoided the storm altogether, to protect the passengers, crew and the ship. Instead, in order to make the deadline, they had to take a route that was sure to be dangerous.
It is worthy to note that NOAA had published the severity of this storm and the track at least 3 days prior to the incident, yet Norwegian Dawn plowed right on through the area enroute to the million dollar show, The Apprentice.
Storm Damaged Ship
Norwegian Cruise Lines - Norwegian Dawn
April 16, 2005
