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GNV Ferry Accident Claims Guide

Whether you were injured as a passenger or a crew member onboard a GNV ferry, if the accident you experience was not your fault, you may be wondering whether you could be entitled to claim compensation. This guide has been created to answer questions you might have about making a GNV ferries personal injury claim. 

In the sections below, we offer guidance on passenger rights, as well as giving examples of the type of accident that could lead to a personal injury claim. If you were injured on a Grand Navi Veloci ferry or fell ill because of negligence in cleaning or the hygienic preparation of food, for example, this guide will answer your queries. We also discuss potential payout amounts for specific injuries relating to GNV ferries personal injury claims. 

If you are already in a position to make a claim, you can call Legal Expert to be provided with a personal injury solicitor to help you. If you’re not sure whether you would be eligible to claim, you could call us for a free assessment of your case and ask us any questions you might have. We can be reached on 0800 073 8804.

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A Guide To GNV Ferries Personal Injury Claims

GNV Ferries personal injury claims information

Whether you were in an accident on a GNV ferry as a passenger, or you were injured as a crew member, if it wasn’t your fault, you may be wondering whether you could claim compensation. GNV ferries have a responsibility towards crew members and passengers to look after their health and safety while they are on board, and if they are negligent in doing so, you could be eligible to claim compensation for your injuries as well as any financial costs/losses you may have experienced as a result.

This guide aims to answer your questions about GNV ferries personal injury claims. Below, we have provided information relating to the rights of passengers and staff onboard a ferry, as well as highlighting situations that could potentially lead to you being able to make a personal injury claim, from slips and falls to allergic reactions and illnesses. Also included is information on potential payouts for certain injuries and illnesses, and guidance on finding a lawyer to help you make a claim.

What Is A GNV Ferry Accident?

GNV is a ferry operator that provides shipping services for both passengers and cargo in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an Italian owned company, established in 1992 and has a fleet of 15 vessels. A GNV ferry accident could be defined as an incident that happens on a GNV ferry that causes you to suffer injury or illness. This could include slips, trips and falls, whether onboard or overboard, whiplash, which could be caused by a collision, or illnesses onboard such as food poisoning or norovirus.

To make a GNV ferries personal injury claim, claimants would have to prove that the operator had not taken care of their health and safety, whether as a passenger or member of staff working for GNV. If you were injured on a Grandi Navi Veloci ferry and could prove that the company was negligent in protecting your health and safety, it may be worth having your case assessed to see if you could claim compensation.

You may be interested to know that there have been some ferry incidents involving the GNV ferry company. In 2018, for example, a Grandi Navi Veloci ferry, named ‘Excellent’, collided with a crane in the port of Barcelona. Luckily, no-one was injured.

In addition to the GNV Excellentcollision, there were also GNV La Superba ferry accidents reported in 2004 and 2009. In 2004, the GNV La Superba rammed into another cruise ship, the Tirrenia Nuraghes, in a port on Sardinia Island.  There was also a fire on the same ship in December 2009 while the vessel was berthed in Genoa. All passengers were transferred onto another ferry and the crew extinguished the fire. You can read more about these incidents via the links at the end of this guide. 

While there are no reports of injuries with any of these incidents, if you have been injured in a ferry incident like this, or any other ferry accident that was not your fault, you could be eligible to claim compensation.

International Ship Passenger Rights

When it comes to making GNV ferries personal injury claims, there are certain rights you have as a passenger on an international ferry. Here, we take you through some of the legislation about these passenger rights.

  • The Athens Convention – The Athens Convention is an international statute that relates to the carriage of luggage and passengers by ocean. If an accident led to damage of property or personal injury, the Athens Convention limits the amount of compensation that could be paid out for personal injury or death. In 2002, there was a protocol put in place requiring compulsory passenger insurance. This increased the maximum payable amount for each passenger to $2,925 for luggage and $325,000 for injury. If a country’s law provides higher maximum amounts of compensation, it can opt-out of this protocol, but if the country’s law provides a lower maximum amount, it cannot opt-out.
  • The Merchant Shipping Act 1995 –  This is a UK law and it relates to the travel by ocean of UK and British-owned vessels. It implements the Athens Convention.
  • The International Maritime Organization – This organization was created in 1948. It works to promote cooperation between countries of the world in order to develop maritime laws, improve safety, prevent accidents and limit the level of pollution caused by sea travel.

In terms of your ABTA rights as a passenger, you could have the right to claim compensation if there is a cancellation or delay to your vessel. You would also have the following rights:

  • The right to be notified of delays as soon as the operator can provide you with this information.
  • On the day of travel, you should not be notified of any delay more than half an hour from the scheduled departure time.
  • If your delay is more than 90 minutes, you should be offered a reimbursement within seven days or an alternative sailing.
  • If your delay causes you to require an overnight stay, your accommodation should be free of charge to you.
  • If there is a cancellation of your crossing, you should be offered a refund or alternative sailing.
  • You should be provided with free refreshments if your sailing is cancelled for more than 90 minutes.

You also have rights to be compensated under EU law if you are injured onboard a ferry in the EU. However, certain conditions must be met, which include:

  • The ship should have arrived/departed to/from a seaport in the EU.
  • The vessel must have been registered within the EU.
  • The contract of the journey should have been concluded within an EU country.

If you are not sure of your passenger rights, please do not hesitate to call the Legal Expert team. We would be happy to talk to you about what laws and rights could apply to your case.

Accidents Which Could Happen On Cruise Ships And Ferries

Many different types of accidents could happen on a cruise ship or a ferry. Some may not lead to a personal injury claim, as they might not be the fault of the ferry operator. However, if you have been injured on a Grandi Navi Veloci ferry and the ferry company could be held liable, you may be eligible for compensation. Accidents on ferries that could lead to a claim might include:

  • A slip on a wet floor that had not been cleared up/signposted.
  • A trip on broken flooring that should have been fixed.
  • A GNV ferry boarding accident – for example, if the walkway had not been secured properly.
  • A fall from the deck when a handrail had not been secured properly.
  • Whiplash from a ferry incident such as a collision.
  • Illnesses such as norovirus or an allergic reaction.

As well as the passenger accidents mentioned above, you could also claim compensation for injuries as a crew member if the accident occurred due to the negligence of GNV ferries as an employer.

Whiplash And Other Injuries Caused By Collisions

Whiplash is a neck injury that could occur when the head is jolted quickly and violently from front to back, or sideways, straining the soft tissues in the neck. While it could be considered a relatively minor injury in some circumstances, symptoms could be painful, and, in some cases, last for quite some time. While you might consider whiplash to be an injury that could be caused by a car accident, it could also be caused by a ferry collision. If you have suffered a whiplash injury that was not your fault in a Grandi Nevi Veloci ferry accident, you could be eligible to claim compensation.

Cruise And Ferry Slip Or Trip Injuries

Whether you have slipped on a spillage on the deck of a ferry that has not been cleared up or signposted, or you’ve tripped on equipment that has been left in a dangerous place by the crew, you could make a claim for compensation if you have suffered injuries in a slip or trip that could have been avoided if the ferry company and its staff had looked after your health and safety while you were on the vessel. These types of accidents could lead to a variety of injuries, from soft tissue injuries to broken bones and more. Depending on how far you have fallen, or what you have landed on, your injuries could range from minor to severe.

Injuries Caused By Broken Facilities Onboard A Ferry

The ferry owner/operator has a duty to ensure that their vessels are safe, both for crew and passengers. They should check, repair and maintain equipment and facilities on a regular basis to ensure that this is the case. If you have been injured boarding or disembarking from a vessel because the walkway was broken, for instance, or have fallen due to broken lighting in a stairwell,  or you were injured onboard the vessel due to a broken chair, for example, you could hold the ferry company responsible for your injuries, and you could be eligible to claim compensation.

Allergic Reactions And Illnesses On A Long-Distance Ferry

It is not only accidents such as trips and falls that could lead people to make GNV ferries personal injury claims. You may have suffered illness due to negligence. This could happen in several different ways.

Allergy claims

If you were on a long-distance ferry, and you were served food, either as a member of the crew or a passenger, you should have let the serving staff know of your allergies so that you could be given food that you were not allergic to. If, however, despite making staff aware of your allergies, you are served foods containing allergens that cause you to have a reaction, you could be eligible to claim compensation.

Food poisoning claims

If you were served food that had not been stored, handled or cooked appropriately, this could cause you to experience food poisoning. Food poisoning could be very unpleasant and could lead to serious long-term health conditions in severe cases. If you have contracted food poisoning due to the unsafe handling of food by catering staff, you could be able to claim compensation for your illness.

Other illnesses

Other illnesses that might be caused by poor hygiene and poor cleaning of ferries could include Legionnaire’s disease and norovirus. Operators should have regular cleaning schedules in place to ensure that the risk of such diseases is kept to a minimum. They should also have procedures to minimise the spread of disease if it is found on their vessels. If these policies and procedures are not adhered to and you suffer illness because of this, you could claim compensation.

Injuries Caused By Falling Overboard

While you might consider falling overboard would be unlikely, it could happen, and if it happens due to the negligence of a ferry operator, you may have a case for compensation. People could and do fall overboard from ferries for various reasons. In 2013, for example, a girl fell from a ferry into the River Mersey while it was berthed at Seacombe ferry terminal. The report on the .GOV website explained that the girl climbed the guardrail of the ferry while the people responsible for her were distracted. An investigation into the incident decided that the safety measures in place on the ferry were not effective enough to have prevented the accident.

Proving liability for this case could be considered quite complex, as there could be some fault on the part of the people that were supposed to be looking after the girl. However, there could also be fault on the part of the ferry owner/operator for ineffective safety measures. This is why, in some cases, it could be wise to consider using the services of an experienced lawyer. While you may not receive as much compensation if you played some part in a Grandi Navi Veloci ferry accident, you may be able to receive some compensation if the ferry owner/operator was found to be partially liable.

Calculating Compensation For A Grandi Navi Veloci Ferry Accident

Whether you were injured in a ferry worker accident or suffered injuries as a passenger, you may be wondering how much compensation you could be eligible to claim. While we have not chosen to include a personal injury claims calculator on this page, we have offered an example of the levels of compensation that could be appropriate for certain injuries. The figures we have collected below are from the Judicial College Guidelines and relate to injuries that could be experienced in a Grandi Navi Veloci ferry accident.

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Injury Type Compensation Bracket (Approximate) Notes
Brain damage – less severe £14,380 to £40,140 There would have been a good level of recovery and the claimant could be able to return to their work and have a normal social life. Persisting problems with concentration, or memory may persist and could interfere with life.
Back injuries – moderate £26,050 to £36,390 Examples of claims that could result in payouts in this bracket could include compression fractures of lumbar vertebrae with risks of osteoarthritis and pain or discomfort that is constant. Another example could include traumatic spondylolisthesis where there is constant pain and possibility that the claimant would need spinal fusion.
Neck injuries – moderate £12,900 to £23,460 Wrenching injuries leading to cervical spondylosis, a limitation on movement and potential for surgery to be required in the future.
Serious, short-lived food poisoning £8,950 to £18,020 Vomiting, diarrhoea lasting up to 4 weeks. Significant levels of discomfort and disturbance of function in the bowels. Symptoms could last for up to 2 years for the highest payouts in this bracket
Minor soft tissue injuries to the shoulder £4,080 to £7,410 Recovery would be in less than two year but over one year.
Clavicle fractures £4,830 to £11,490 Award would be determined by assessing the residual symptoms, extent of injury, disability level and more.
Moderate leg injuries £26,050 to £36,790 Multiple, complex fractures, or crush injuries that were deemed to be severe. Usually to only one limb. The award would be calculated by assessing whether the injury affects employment, how perfect the union of broken bones is, whether there was muscle wasting, the risk of degenerative changes and more.

How Else A Victim Of A Ferry Accident Could Be Compensated

In addition to the amounts that could be claimed for your injuries, you could also look into claiming for any financial expenses or losses that you’ve sustained because of your injuries. GNV ferries personal injury claims could include special damages, which could compensate you for:

  • Care costs
  • Medical expenses
  • Loss of earnings
  • Travel expenses

If you have incurred a cost or suffered a loss directly because of your Grandi Navi Veloci ferry accident, you may be able to claim for it as special damages.

No Win No Fee Claims For An Accident On A GNV Ferry

If you are concerned about how much it could cost you to retain the services of a personal injury solicitor for your GNV ferry accident claim, you may be glad to know that in making a No Win No Fee claim, you could pursue your case without having to pay any legal fees upfront or during the claim.  If your case is unsuccessful,  you would not have to pay any of the fees your solicitor has incurred in pursuing your case. 

If your case is successful, your solicitor may seek a small contribution toward their costs. This contribution is known as a success fee and forms a percentage of the compensation awarded at the end of the claim. Success fees are legally capped, so you don’t have to worry about losing a significant portion of your settlement.

Why Choose Our Overseas Accident Claims Team?

Here at Legal Expert, we could help you if you have been injured on a Grandi Navi Veloci ferry in an accident that was not your fault. You may be under the impression that you would have to find a lawyer overseas to help you make such a claim, but you could use one of our specialist solicitors who could handle GNV ferries personal injury claims from here in the UK. This could be beneficial for you as you would not have to navigate any language barriers and this could also make it easier for you to visit your lawyer should you wish to.

We understand that when it comes to making a personal injury claim, you have lots of options open to you as to who you choose to assist you. We believe that our service could be a fantastic choice for you if you are considering claiming for a Grandi Navi Veloci ferry accident. Not only could we offer a free, no-obligation assessment of your case, but we could also provide free advice to you concerning your claim. You would be under no obligation to use our services or to take the advice we give, but it could be a way to learn more about your options for making a claim.

We have helped many claimants successfully achieve a payout for accidents that weren’t their fault. Our previous clients have attested to our fantastic level of customer service, and we pride ourselves on putting our clients at the centre of everything we do. We know some of the legal jargon that you might have heard may be confusing, so we always attempt to answer your questions clearly and in plain English so you’re sure of your position at all times. We believe that all claimants should have the right to claim compensation without having to pay for legal services upfront, so we have made sure that all of our solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis.

Begin Your Claim

We are ready to support you if you are considering making a Grandi Navi Veloci ferry accident claim. Our experienced, friendly team could help to assess your case to see if you could be eligible to claim compensation for your injuries or illness. 

You can contact us at any time on 0800 073 8804, through the live chat function on this page, via the contact form, which you can find here, or via email, at info@legalexpert.co.uk.

Supporting Information

More About The Seacombe Ferry Accident– Here, you can see the full report regarding the incident we mentioned earlier in the guide.

GNV Ferry Incident – 2018 – Barcelona Port – You can read about the GNV Ferry incident at Barcelona Port in 2018 here.

GNV Ferry Incidents – 2004 and 2009 – More information about GNV Ferry incidents can be found here.

Making Complaints – ABTA – You can find out how to make a complaint to ABTA here.

Maritime Passenger Rights – Here, you can read information about your rights as a maritime passenger.

Whiplash Claims – Our definitive guide on whiplash injuries may be of interest to you if this is the injury you’ve suffered.

Brain Injury – Here, we offer some guidance on brain injury claims.

Slip, Trip Or Fall? – If this is the type of accident you’ve been injured in, this guide could help.

 

Written by Jeffries

Edited by Billing