- A leading British lawyer, Nigel Bryce Tinker, has died after falling from the balcony of a luxury cruise ship, reports said.
- London's High Court ruled that the 72-year-old will die in 2023.
- Cruise industry experts told BI that updates to maritime safety requirements are infrequent and insufficient.
A top British lawyer who went missing after falling off a cruise ship has been declared dead by London's High Court, the Telegraph reported.
Nigel Bryce Tinker, 72, was aboard the Seven Seas Mariner when he fell to his death in July 2023.
Bryce Tinker, the former legal director of gambling company William Hill, was holidaying on a Mediterranean cruise, with plans to return to the UK after a stint in Australia.
Surveillance camera footage showed Bryce Tinker falling to his death from the balcony of a cruise ship en route from Marseille to Barcelona on July 21, The Telegraph reported.
While it is possible, The rate of falls overboard on cruise ships is extremely low.and cruise ship experts told Business Insider that the industry's safety protocols need to be updated.
The late lawyer's daughter, Sophie Elizabeth Bryce-Tinker, filed a motion in October to have him declared presumed dead. The directions hearing took place on March 25th.
Sophie Elizabeth Blythe-Tinker told the court her father was “not himself” and had become “increasingly abnormal” on board the ship, according to the Telegraph.
“I saw the video evidence,” she said. “Something came off the ship at 4:28 a.m. and I'm ready to accept that it was a corpse. The direction is consistent with that from the suite where Mr. Bryce Tinker was. Masu.”
According to the Telegraph, presiding judge Karen Schumann said: “I am satisfied with the evidence before me that Mr Bryce Tinker fell to his death from the boat he was on at 4:28 CET.” I concluded.
The reason for the fall remains unknown.
A spokesperson for Regent Seven Seas Cruises told BI: “We deeply regret the loss of Bryce Tinker and hope the High Court's decision brings them some comfort and closure.” he said.
cruise ship safety
Ross Klein, an international authority on the cruise ship industry, told BI that he believes cruise ship safety regulations are outdated. He said no major changes have been made to cruise ship safety since the Cruise Ship Safety Act of 2010.
“I'm not seeing any improvement. Absolutely zero,” he said.
Klein said most cases of passengers falling or jumping from ships can be attributed to intoxication.
“That's completely within the control of the cruise lines, but they'd rather sell all-you-can-drink packages than take any responsibility for people consuming too much alcohol,” he said.
“Ninety percent of people who binge do so between midnight and 7 a.m.,” Klein said, adding, “These are the hours when people are most likely to get intoxicated.”
The incident comes as a 20-year-old Royal Caribbean passenger jumped off the ship at 3:30 a.m. and has been missing since April 4, according to reports. Witnesses told the New York Post that the man appeared “very intoxicated.”
In an interview with local Florida news outlet Sun North Port, the father of missing boy Le'Veon Parker questioned how his son was able to consume so much alcohol on board the ship.
“We don't drink alcohol. I want to know why my son was offered so much alcohol,” Francel Parker said.
Ross Klein said that although suicide accounts for only a small percentage of cruise deaths, there is “no real intervention” for passengers experiencing suicidal thoughts.
Klein is “not very hopeful” about viable changes to cruise safety in the near future because “no one is asking for change.”
“I think the law is woefully inadequate,” he said.
“Going on a ship today would be the same as going on a ship in 1990. No improvements have been made. The railings are the same height,” Klein said.
