cruise ship premises liability Tag Archives

Published on: May 29, 2025

Cruise Ship Saves Group Stranded in the Ocean. A Look Back at Previous Leesfield & Partners Cruise Ship Cases.

A couple who told reporters with ABC News that they dreamed of traveling the world on their catamaran tell the shocking story of how they were saved by a cruise ship along their journey.

Helena Franczak and Dustin Leonard, two crew members and their three dogs were on the catamaran when it was damaged at sea in the South Pacific. The couple was heading to Fiji when the weather took a turn for the worst, taking the vessel’s mast and leaving them stranded over 170 nautical miles from New Caledonia, a French territory made up of dozens of islands in the South Pacific.

While stranded, they noticed a cruise ship in the distance and shot off a flare to get the attention of the ship’s crew. The daring rescue took extreme caution and skill as “it takes a little mistake … and you may sink them,” the ship’s captain told reporters.

Published on: February 26, 2025

Viral Video of Thrill-Seeking Cruise Ship Activity Leaves Viewers Skeptical. What do You Think?

By Leesfield & Partners

A video showcasing a passenger testing out a new slide advertised as the “quickest way” to travel eight floors on a cruise ship has gone viral.

The video, which has over 460,000 likes, thousands of comments and has been shared nearly 60,000 times, shows a passenger getting inside a tube-like slide and securing himself in a sack. Once the passenger was loaded up, the tube door closed, and the floor vanished from underneath him.

The man can be heard yelling all the way down, his laughter echoing through the tube. The camera then pans to the side of the ship where the slide curves off the edge, suspended over the pool deck for a moment of adrenaline-spiking danger.

Published on: January 21, 2025

Doctors: He Can ‘Barely Lift His Arm Away from His Body.’ Leesfield & Partners Secure Confidential Settlement for Injured Cruise Ship Passenger.

By Leesfield & Partners

A man suffered a life-changing injury when he slipped and fell, sustaining a torn rotator cuff while aboard a cruise ship in 2023.

The incident happened as the man, his wife and grandchild were walking in a dining area that had recently been mopped, but not dried. There were no signs or cones that would have prevented him from walking in the area or alerted him to the hazard at the time he fell. As a result, he suffered a torn rotator cuff that doctors later determined would require surgery.

Surgical Intervention

Published on: December 26, 2024

Cruise ship worker accused with possessing child sex abuse material caught by police at Port Everglades, officials say

By Leesfield & Partners

A cruise ship worker who was accused of possessing child sex abuse material on his cellphone was found by police at Port Everglades, according to reporting from Channel 10 News.

Koen Leonard Eyck, 35, was charged with transportation and possession of child pornography. Eyck was working on Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam and has since been fired, according to reporting from Channel 10. There has been no official confirmation as to what role he fulfilled on board.

When the ship docked in Porty Everglades on Dec. 14, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents searched Eyck’s electronic devices. On it, they found his participation in a WhatsApp group chat dedicated to sharing the child sex abuse material and a $35 electronic payment allegedly used to pay for additional illegal material. When questioned, Eyck admitted to receiving the links for anywhere between five to 10 years.