A former NBC war correspondent has been awarded €17,500 damages against Irish Ferries for her experience on a ferry trip from Cherbourg to Dublin almost ten years ago.
As RTÉ News reports, Susan Burt ( 75) told the Circuit Civil Court she thought she was going to die during the trip on the MV Epsilon in February 2016.
Afloat.ie reported at the time that the ship sustained extensive damage to her cargo – estimated at thousands of Euro – during the crossing from Cherbourg.
The 2011 Italian–built ship hit winds of a constant 60 knots with gusts of 105 knots at times.
The court heard that conditions had been so bad that it was too risky to dock, and the ship stayed at sea for 18 hours until the storm eased.
Three children and four other adults, including Ms Burt's partner Chris Sawyer, had earlier accepted settlements ranging from €14,500 to €23,000. Mr Sawyer had been physically injured during the storm.
Ms Burt told her barrister John Wilde Crosbie, who appeared with Evan O’Dwyer of O’Dwyer Solicitors, Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, that she had lived through a horrific nightmare.
Judge Christopher Callan, who had reserved judgment until yesterday, said that he believed Ms Burt “did not in any way exaggerate what had happened to her."
Read RTÉ News here
