A federal judge
scheduled a trial to begin June 10 between the Lake George Steamboat Co., and the families of 20 senior citizens from Michigan and Ohio.
The claim is against the Lake George Steamboat Co., owners of the Mohican, whose wake allegedly contributed to the capsizing of the Ethan Allen.
A group of senior citizens from Michigan and Ohio had boarded the 40-foot long tour boat Ethan Allen on Oct. 2, 2005, for a cruise along the shoreline of Lake George to view the hues of the fall foliage. About 20 minutes into the cruise, the boat capsized, throwing the 47 passengers and the captain into the water. The boat sank in 70 feet of water near Cramer Point.
Read AA&B's Q&A with three wholesalers/program administrators specializing in boat, yacht and marina insurance, "Floating away."
Nine survivors reached a settlement in June 20 with the Ethan Allen’s owners Shoreline Cruises Inc., the boat’s captain and an affiliate rental company. Last year, the families of the victims settled with Shoreline Travel & Tours Inc., the Michigan tour company that arranged the fall foliage tour. The company has no relationship to the boat’s owner, Shoreline Cruises Inc. of Lake George.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause of the capsizing of the Ethan Allen was the vessel’s insufficient stability to resist the combined forces of a passing wave or waves from the Mohican, a sharp turn, and the resulting involuntary shift of passengers to the port side of the vessel.
NTSB determined the vessel’s stability was insufficient because it carried 48 persons where post-accident stability calculations demonstrated that it should have been permitted to carry only 14 persons.