An 18-year-old passenger died aboard Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Horizon during a 6-night Caribbean voyage from Miami. The woman has been identified as Anna Kepner.
Kepner’s family described their daughter as a joyful, straight-A student who was planning to join the military. She was from Titusville, Florida.
Limited information about the cause or events leading up to Kepner’s death has been released. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the death. The FBI boarded the Carnival Horizon the morning passengers disembarked in PortMiami on Saturday, November 8.
The FBI does not investigate deaths unless they suspect foul play or the deaths occur under suspicious circumstances.
Per Cruise Hive, passengers on Deck 8 received notifications that they had priority debarkation so authorities could investigate. The notification read: “Authorities will be joining the ship first thing upon arrival to complete an investigation and will be in the area of your hallway. It could be noisy and disruptive, so we kindly ask that you be out of your stateroom by 7:00 am.”
Given that the FBI boarded the ship the morning the cruise ended, Kepner likely passed away earlier on the voyage. The location of her death is critical because the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA) would apply in international water. DOHSA is the federal law that governs wrongful-death claims beyond three nautical miles from U.S. shores.
There are two key aspects to DOHSA claims. First, cruise lines only pay for loss of support to dependents, not lost wages for the deceased person. This means cruise lines will pay a family nothing if their lost loved one had no dependents. Second, cruise lines do not have to compensate for pain, suffering, grief, or bereavement.
If Anna Kepner passed away in international waters, the Kepner family would be entitled to only burial and funeral expenses since Anna was still in high school and likely had no dependents.
Carnival released the following statement: “Since this is an ongoing matter under the jurisdiction of law enforcement, it is up to the FBI’s Miami public affairs office to provide further details.” They continued, “Our focus is on supporting the family of our guest.”
To paraphrase for Carnival, they are saying they will hide behind the FBI’s investigation and provide little to no compensation to the Kepner family regardless of what the investigation finds because of DOHSA.
If you have a question or comment, please leave one below or join the discussion on our Facebook page.