Cunard says lessons have been learnt from tragic cruise death
A coroner has recorded the verdict of misadventure in an inquest into the death of a cruise passenger while she was trying to board Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth after an excursion.
Mary Atherton, aged 75, from Lancashire, was attempting to step from a tender on to a pontoon when an unexpected wave came.
Crew members jumped in to try to rescue her but she was crushed between the tender boat and the pontoon.
She was returning to the ship after an excursion in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
During the inquest, her family had criticised Cunard saying crew should have been told about her mobility problems, which had been shared with the cruise line.
But coroner Dr James Adeley said it was impractical to expect the crew to have known.
He also dismissed evidence by an independent marine expert who said boarding should have been stopped because of the conditions, saying the evidence was ambiguous and was affected by hindsight.
Since the tragic accident last April, Cunard parent Carnival UK has brought in new safety procedures and has designed a new-style gangway for use in tender embarkation and disembarkation.
It pledged to share details of the improvements with a cruise body so they can be implemented industry wide.
"This has been a difficult week, especially for the family and witnesses," said Carnival UK CEO David Noyes.
"I would like to thank them and the Coroner for ensuring that this has been a thorough investigation and inquest. As a result, we are confident that significant lessons have been learnt from this tragic accident and, consequently, the safety of all cruise line tender operations can be enhanced."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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