Cruise Ship is a thrilling new novel that exposes the compromised safety of cruise ships.
The novel highlights the problems of modern Cruise ships. Whilst fictional, Lloyd’s compelling narrative showcases just how dangerous on board luxury can get in pursuit of a healthy bottom line. For superyacht crew, career seafarers and cruise-goers alike, this novel is a must-read.
To most, cruising is a week or two of pure luxury. It is an adventure and an opportunity to explore the world in great safety – or so it’s thought.
But what of the cruise industry’s rampant pursuit of profit – often at the detriment of basic safety.
Sounds implausible? Well the book was drafted before the Costa Concordia incident and remains an exciting novel of the sea.
Here is a story based on an incident that could happen tomorrow. If the professional seamen are concerned about these ships, then so should the cruise companies and the passengers who sail on these.
Passenger ships of the past had a strict adherence to safety before passenger comfort . With the advent of the vast ‘Hotel’ ships all this has changed. It is now the entertainment and hotel departments of these companies that hold sway over the marine department.
This strange new industry is advocating the ship is a lifeboat, completely forgetting that anything that floats can sink, regrettably when least expected.
Apart from the fact that they are not required to have lifeboats on board for all the passengers and crew and most have inadequate lifejackets, the sheer numbers of those on board many of these ships make any abandonment in the required time almost impossible, especially on a dark night in bad weather.
This is a story of a ship that lost her way, of a crew that forgot the sea, those who paid the price and those who learnt about how cruel the sea can be.
Synopsis:
The cruise ship was a dream. A seagoing pleasure city, the passengers came for that dream. The young; the old, the infirm; all were welcome provided they had the money. The crew that served them were also part of the dream. Voyage after voyage she proved that dreams come true and slowly the sea became forgotten. But the sea did not forget the ship.
One man tried to warn of the consequences of this forgetfulness but it was too late. He was the past and the ship was the future. Until one cold dark night when the laughter turned to screams and the unsinkable turned to the unthinkable.
Well written, by a hugely experienced Sea Captain this thoroughly enjoyable sea story, has enough nautical terminology correctly woven into the text to satisfy the reader with a critical eye for maritime accuracy like me.
The author Captain Michael Lloyd FNI like me was trained on HMS Conway and went to sea as a Cadet with P&O.S.N.Co.
He became a Shipmaster for 35 years commanding a wide variety of ships from small to some of the largest in the world. He spent over 10 years on cruise and passenger ships.
He wrote several text books on seamanship and published a wide variety of papers and articles on marine matters before writing his novels.
‘Cruise Ship’, is published by Witherby Publishing Group Limited, is available on line.