Cruises add poolside lifeguards to combat drowning
Of the millions of passengers who annually travel aboard cruise ships worldwide, the number of them who drown in onboard swimming pools is extraordinarily small, the industry says.
But in the wake of highly publicized drownings or near-drownings of children in recent years, more cruise lines are stationing lifeguards aboard their ships.
Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International are the most recent of the large operators this year to add trained lifeguards to enhance pool safety.
Over the years, cruise lines have been slow to retain lifeguards to oversee their ships’ pools, citing comparatively low incident rates with land-based accidents and existing company programs designed to ensure safety.
“Cruise lines manage swimming pools with a continual focus on the safety of guests and crew,” according to a statement from Cruise Lines International Association, an industry trade group. “While swimming pool drownings are always tragic, incidents on cruise ships are a tiny fraction of corresponding rates at similar venues on land. Annually, data shows that on average there are two drownings out of 24 million passengers carried by cruise lines.”
But maritime lawyers who serve as safety advocates argue the deployment of lifeguards is past due for an industry that aggressively markets shipboard vacations to adults who frequently take their children along for the ride.
Though his clients recognize that parental responsibility plays a significant role in monitoring children in cruise ship pools, Miami attorney Michael A. Winkleman said it “also coincides with corporate responsibility of the cruise line doing the right thing.”
Previously, Disney Cruise Line was the only major operator to deploy lifeguards, which it did in late 2013 after a near-drowning of a 4-year-old boy in a pool aboard the Disney Fantasy.
Norwegian’s plans initially call for adding lifeguards on its four largest ships — Norwegian Escape, Norwegian Getaway, Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Epic — by late June, spokeswoman Vanessa Picariello said. Lifeguards will be poolside fleetwide by early 2018.
The lifeguards will be responsible for monitoring the ships’ family pools during scheduled open hours, the Miami-based operator said. Uniformed “first responders” will be trained and certified by the American Red Cross in lifesaving rescue techniques.
Norwegian has stationed pool attendants on its largest ships since 2015, but it is taking the additional step to “ensure the safety of our youngest guests,” said Andy Stuart, president and CEO, in a statement. “While parents are always the first line of supervision when it comes to water safety, we felt it was important to provide this added measure.”
Rival Royal Caribbean began adding lifeguards to some ships this year and expects to have them aboard all of their ships by June, spokeswoman Lyan Sierra-Caro said.
The lifeguards are part of a water safety campaign that includes providing life vests and education programs for young children and teenagers.
Royal Caribbean’s lifeguards are being trained in partnership with Star Guard Elite, a Windermere-based aquatic risk prevention and lifeguard training company.
Lawmakers in Washington have been lobbying for more consumer protections at sea in the wake of high-profile cruise ship accidents, some involving the deaths of passengers and crew.
On Wednesday, the Cruise Passenger Protection Act was introduced into the House of Representatives and a companion bill in the Senate, with the goal of strengthening passenger safety.
The proposed act does not call for the placement of lifeguards aboard vessels. But it does seek improved shipboard medical standards and would hold cruise companies responsible for deaths at sea, according to lawmakers.