Kiwis join probe into Ruby Princess actions
At least five New Zealanders are among a group of Ruby Princess passengers investigating a class action lawsuit against the cruise ship’s owners.
More than 600 passengers on the ship’s most recent voyage to New Zealand have contacted Australian law firm Shine Lawyers, which is investigating a class action against Carnival Corporation, to account for failing to safeguard and protect its passengers from the impact of Covid-19.
Shine Lawyers’ class actions practice leader Vicky Antzoulatos said all 2647 passengers on the voyage that left Sydney on March 8 would be eligible to join the class action.
Before the ship departed on its voyage there had been 158 logged cases of illness on the previous voyage, yet none of the embarking passengers were informed of this.
It was known that at least five New Zealanders had joined the investigation, she said, but that number may be higher because not all passengers had provided their nationality.
It was not necessary to have been infected with coronavirus to join the action.
Antzoulatos said the exact nature of the claim was still being considered, but would include the allegations that:
❚ Passengers were never alerted to the fact that there was a risk of an outbreak of Covid-19 on this ship, and as such, passengers were never given an opportunity to protect themselves;
❚ Passengers report that no additional sanitisation or cleaning precautions appeared to be taken by the cruise operator during the voyage;
❚ No social distancing protocols were introduced, and venues on the ship remained open and crowded for the duration of the voyage. Photos have emerged of a gathering called by the ship’s captain on the final night of the cruise where all passengers were gathered in one place shoulder to shoulder;
❚ No itinerary alterations occurred that would have limited the instance of
group activities.
❚ The ship, which is linked to more than 22 coronavirus deaths and more than 700 infections across Australia and New Zealand, visited New Zealand between March 11 and March 15, when it cut its trip short and returned to Sydney.
It sailed from Napier on March 15, skipping intended visits to Tauranga on March 16, Auckland on March 17, and Bay of Islands on March 18.
Several tour guides and bus drivers in New Zealand were infected with Covid-19 after coming into contact with the ship’s passengers. In Napier this led to an outbreak in a rest home, and saw several health workers infected. New Zealand’s ‘‘Ruby Princess’’ cluster, which included Kiwi passengers on the cruise, stands at 24, of whom 19 have recovered.
Antzoulatos said while this class action would relate only to passengers, ‘‘others who were infected as a result of passengers disembarking the ship, may be entitled to other forms of compensation’’.
Last month Stuff revealed that staff on a cruise ship at the centre of the coronavirus cluster on both sides of the Tasman were aware of a passenger on board with undiagnosed ‘‘influenza like illness’’ when the ship docked in New Zealand ports but did not isolate them, official health documents show.
A special commission of inquiry is now under way in Sydney in which the key players in the Ruby Princess saga are being grilled over their actions in the hours before the now-infamous cruise ship docked in Sydney on March 19.
The inquiry is expected to report back by mid-August.