Norwegian suits to Philippines? Cruise line likely to seek transfer

Norwegian Cruise Line is likely to try to transfer lawsuits filed on behalf of Filipino seamen killed or burned in a boiler blast to their homeland, a move meant to help the firm avoid paying potentially tens of millions of dollars in damages, maritime lawyers say.

If recent federal court rulings are any guide, Norwegian might succeed in removing the injury claims arising from the deadliest U.S.-based cruise ship accident in a decade.

A Miami federal judge would be asked to send complaints brought by attorneys representing killed and injured Filipinos on the SS Norway to the Philippines, where damage awards for seafarers are in the tens of thousands of dollars.

In a unique relationship, the Philippine government negotiates the seamen's employment contracts with Norwegian and other Miami-based cruise lines -- including a clause requiring that the Filipinos' injury claims be decided by arbitrators in their native country.

During the past decade, the cruise lines, including Norwegian, have relied on their employment agreements with Filipino seafarers as a means to remove their injury claims from courts in this country. Last year, a Miami federal judge granted Norwegian's request to send a busboy's injury case to the Philippines, but after an appeal, it was settled out of court here.

SUITS FILED

In the May 25 explosion at the Port of Miami-Dade, six of the seven killed and 15 of the 17 injured were Filipinos. So far, 14 Norway crew members and their families have sued Norwegian in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. More suits are expected.

For Norwegian, owned by the Malaysian firm Star Cruises, the jurisdictional fight comes down to money, maritime attorneys say.

"The way I see it, keeping the cases in [Miami] will be the real battle in this whole thing," said longtime admiralty attorney Charles Lipcon, who is representing a Norway victim who is Nicaraguan. "What would be a [single] judgment in a U.S. court for, say, $1 million will be $10,000 in the Philippines."

A Jamaican crew member also was killed, and his family has filed suit against Norwegian. But only the Philippines has an agreement with the cruise lines involving legal claims.

Norwegian spokeswoman Susan Robison declined to comment on the company's legal strategy, saying its insurer would decide the defensive course of action. Norwegian's attorney, Curtis Mase, also refused to discuss it.

The Norway cases could be affected by recent federal court and appellate decisions in Miami and New Orleans that ordered sending past Filipino seamen's complaints back to their country because of their employment contracts.

"The court will have to look at whether they want to deprive Philippine families their access to U.S. law for an accident that happened in Miami, Florida, on a cruise line in Miami, Florida," said attorney Brett Rivkind, president of the Florida Admiralty Trial Lawyers Association.

For the injured Filipino workers and relatives of the killed Filipino crew members, removal of their suits could be devastating. The Filipino victims on the Norway were their family's breadwinners, sending home their monthly wages, from $300 to $1,000, according to one widow.

Cristina Valenzuela, whose husband, Candido, died in the blast, said she is all but penniless. The mother of four has hired a Miami lawyer, who filed a negligence suit seeking $5 million for lost wages, pain and suffering and other damages. Candido, 49, had worked 16 years for Norwegian, most recently as a boiler worker.

The widow said in a phone interview that she doesn't want her case transferred to the Philippines. "It would be bad if that would happen, but I haven't heard anything," said Valenzuela, who said three Norwegian officials attended her husband's June 10 funeral, offering condolences. "They did not talk to me about money," she said.