Marco Polo storm wave death ship investigated
The safety of a cruise ship on which an elderly passenger died when it was hit by a freak wave is to be investigated after passengers raised concerns.
James Swinstead, 85, from Colchester, was killed when water crashed through restaurant windows on the British ship Marco Polo on 14 February.
His widow claimed it was "badly maintained" and other passengers have asked marine lawyers to investigate.
The ship's operator said it could not comment during the investigation.
The vessel was heading for its home port of Tilbury in Essex at the end of a 42-night voyage when Mr Swinstead died.
A number of the other 735 passengers, who were mainly British, were also injured.
The ship was inspected at the docks by police and port officials, and after repairs were made, was cleared to continue sailing.
Clive Garner, from legal firm Irwin Mitchell, said: "We have spoken to a number of concerned passengers who were injured.
"We are beginning an investigation into the incident to determine whether more should have been done to protect passengers and prevent them from being injured."
A spokesman for the ship's operator Cruise and Maritime Voyages (CMV) said the company would not comment on the allegations due to ongoing investigations.
"CMV consider passenger safety to be of paramount importance and regularly carry thousands of passengers on their cruises without incident," he added.