Owners, officials attest to tour boat safety
Business and state officials discuss ‘rare storm’ that capsized double-decker vessel, resulting in a death and $1 million lawsuit
CONROE — A paddle boat business is being sued for $1 million after its double-decker vessel flipped on a recent cruise on Lake Conroe, killing one of its 53 passengers and sending several others to the hospital.
Businesses and tourism officials are assuring visitors this is an isolated case and that safety regulations are enforced.
“This was really an unusual sort of rare storm event,” said Jace Houston, general manager of the San Jacinto River Authority, which regulates much of Lake Conroe.
The engine-powered Lake Conroe Queen, 35 years old and fashioned after 1860s riverboats, had been operating on its namesake since June. Winds producing 4- to 5-foot waves on Aug. 14 reportedly blew it on its side.
Those aboard, including children, ended up on a shallow spot near the Regency Point townhouse complex in the southern end of the lake. Some of the residents at the complex rescued passengers struggling in the water.
Passenger Karl Katzenberger, 80, of Montgomery, died of cardiac issues later at a hospital.
“Obviously, it was a very quick storm that blew up. No one even saw it on the radar,” said Lake Conroe Queen owner Dale Shaver when reached briefly by phone Aug. 20.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will take over the boat as part of its investigation, Precinct 1 Capt. Joe Sclider said at the time.
Game wardens annually inspect safety equipment, including life jackets and ring buoys, on boats exceeding 30 feet in length, carrying more than six passengers and having a staff and operating crew, according to TPWD Cmdr. Cody Jones.
TPWD expects specific ratios of passengers and crew members, one of whom needs to be CPR-certified. All staff manning the watercraft must undergo certified boater education, Jones noted. The department also conducts mandatory drug and alcohol testing following any crashes, he said.
These commercial boats are required by TPWD to have a minimum $300,000 liability insurance, Jones pointed out.
An estimated 125 businesses operating on Lake Conroe’s waters are expected to comply with San Jacinto River Authority insurance requirements, said Houston, the general manager.
This ensures “if there ever is an accident, the public, the people that just come here to recreate, are not left without some sort of recourse. They have some place they can go to have their injuries taken care of or their damages compensated,” Houston said. “We tell companies you can’t come here and do business if you’re not gonna protect the public by carrying insurance.”
A lawsuit, filed Aug. 19 in Harris County, argues owners caused the Lake Conroe Queen to capsize through negligence and committed a breach of contract for failing to complete a sunset cruise. The suit is asking for more than $1 million in damages.
Houston-based attorney Ryan
MacLeod is representing eight plaintiffs, six from Harris County and two from Montgomery County, he said in an Aug. 20 interview. MacLeod said clients’ ages range from their mid 20s to their 70s.
Passengers were only given life jackets about 15 seconds before the boat flipped with most unable to secure them on themselves, while others never received one, MacLeod said. Those on the top deck were never instructed to go to the bottom deck during the storm, the attorney added.
The suit contends plaintiffs inhaled the boat’s leaking diesel in the water the passengers were stranded in. MacLeod said some of his clients have fractured ribs and one sustained a torn ACL.
As good Samaritans pulled passengers out of the water, MacLeod said Shaver and the other three crew members immediately left the area.
“There was no going around checking on people,” the attorney said. The crew “hightailed got out of there.”
MacLeod said a client he is representing in the suit remarked while aboard the Lake Conroe Queen that weather in the distance looked bad and asked if the boat should turn around. Shaver, the owner, MacLeod said, announced to passengers the storm would not affect the boat and the crew proceeded onward.
“You gotta have proper emergency response protocols,” MacLeod said. “Put it in writing in policy and procedure. You have to actually be able to carry it out.”