Sarah Kirby went on a five night Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Destiny to celebrate her 30th birthday in October of 2012. Partying with friends, she became very intoxicated. Just after midnight, she went back to her stateroom and stepped out on to her cabin balcony to get some air. Somehow, she managed to fall or climb over the 45″ high railing, tumbling seven decks, roughly 100′, to the water, striking a life raft on the way down. Kirby is quoted as saying, ‘I remember leaning over the balcony to look at the side of the ship and next thing I knew I was in the water.‘ Two hours later she was rescued from the water by the ship’s crew.
She is now suing Carnival for negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She claims that the bartender “pushed drinks on her,” and that Carnival delayed rescuing her from the water. Carnival denies the allegations saying that the claims ‘are completely unsupported and contradicted by the evidence in the case.‘ The lawsuit made a large splash in the media in January when infrared CCTV video emerged of the fall. (See the video after the page break.)
Without expressing an opinion about the specifics of the lawsuit, it does raise several important questions. Are balconies, booze and drunken passengers inherently tragedies waiting to happen? Are the cruise lines doing enough to keep their passengers on board and doing enough when they fall overboard? Specifically, why haven’t cruise lines installed “Man Overboard Detection Systems” as mandated by the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010?
It appears that the British satellite firm, Inmarsat, combined high tech analysis with very basic navigation to estimate the flight path of MH370, after all other other searchers had failed to find the plane. 
On March 24, 1989, the 210,000 dwt crude oil tanker 
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According to the historic coating specialists, Michael Crick-Smith and Ian Crick-Smith, the current black and orange-yellow color scheme of Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory is “an early 20th century invention of what an 18th century warship looked like.” Based on their study of hundreds of fragments of the original paint surfaces, they have concluded that the original ochre was a much paler yellow instead of what they refer to as “that hideous orange.” Many interior spaces were also said to be less elaborately and brightly colored than they are now on the famous ship.
I recently booked a berth on the 
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Last Sunday was the second of two weekends of the 
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I am very much looking forward to Alaric Bond’s latest, 