Huge win for Ruby Princess passengers
The passengers of the ill-fated Ruby Princess cruise ship voyage in 2020 have won a class action lawsuit against Carnival Cruise Lines, after a judge determined it was negligent for the voyage to commence.
More than 2,600 passengers were onboard the vessel when the ship left from Sydney for a 13-night journey around New Zealand, before an outbreak of Covid-19 forced the cruise ship to turn around.
Almost 700 people tested positive to the virus and were held onboard, which results in 28 Covid deaths.
The lawsuit alleged that Carnival, which chartered the ship, and its owner/operator Princess Cruise Lines, breached duties of care and Australian Consumer Law.
On Wednesday, Justice Angus Stewart found that the cruise company was negligent in certain respects with regard to the precautions taken for passenger safety.
He also found the company made misleading representations in pre-holiday communications with passengers, including by suggesting it was "reasonably safe" to take the cruise at the beginning of the pandemic.
The class action lawsuit began in October 2022 after two long years of preparation, and ran for five weeks.
Susan Karpik was the lead applicant in the class action seeking damages arising from a breach of the consumer guarantees and negligence by the cruise company.
In a statement issued by Shine Lawyers on Wednesday, Ms Karpik said she was “pleased with the outcome” but that it was only a “partial win”.
“It’s of course only a partial win as 28 lives were lost on this cruise,” she said.
“There are many individuals and families who will never recover from this loss.”
Shine Lawyers Joint Head of Class Actions Vicky Antzoulatos, who ran the case said, “today is a warning for cruise companies to put passengers ahead of profits.
“Carnival should now do the right thing and compensate all the passengers rather than prolong the matter through further litigation,” she said.
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