British soldier files £200k lawsuit after injury on £1.5million-a-week superyacht
Sam Gumble was working as security to defend against Somali pirates on the MS Lana - a superyacht previously used by Beyoncé - when he was injured by a burst pipe in the Middle East.
An ex-soldier is suing his employers after a ’work-place’ accident aboard a luxury super yacht which left him with severe upper body injuries.
Sam Gumble was seriously hurt by a high-pressure water jet from a burst pipe on the mammoth vessel previously used by Beyoncé, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. The 38-year-old was left requiring corrective surgery to his shoulder after the incident while sailing from Oman to Saudi Arabia.
The ex-British Army and French Foreign Legion soldier was contracted as armed security on the MS Lana at the time - a huge luxury liner longer than a football pitch. The yacht was on route for the Saudi Grand Prix and sailing round the Arabian peninsula towards Jeddah, with Mr Gumble employed to defend against the possibility of Somali pirates.
But disaster struck when an alarm sounded hours after leaving port in Oman, and Mr Gumble left his cabin only to be met by gushing water from the hall ceiling.
He believed the ship was sinking at the time, and waded through water only to slip and be pinned down by water pressure, battering his shoulder. Mr Gumble, from Essex, is now pursuing legal action against employers Veritas International Consultancy for damages of more than £200,000 following his injuries, Mail Online reports.
The claim submitted to the High Court said he ultimately suffered severe injuries to his right shoulder, including a fracture dislocation, a massive rotator cuff tear and damage to a tendon. He was also left with severe bruising and has been told he could later suffer post-traumatic osteoarthritis.
The MS Lana was previously owned by Russian oligarch Alexander Vershavsky and now belongs to Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Suroror bin Mohammed al Nahyan. Costing £1.5million a week to charter, it has previously been chartered by celebrity and business royalty, from Bill Gates in 2021 to Beyoncé and Jay-Z for the singer’s 38th birthday in 2020.
Mr Gumble, from Waltham Abbey, Essex, had been contracted to work for a week with Veritas, a security business set up in 2004 to protect superyachts from piracy and terrorism, he claims. He accused Veritas of negligence in failing to give information about why the alarm was being sounded, not ensuring a safe evacuation route and not providing emergency drill training.
He also claimed the firm failed to send a safety officer, failed to carry out a risk assessment, and allowed him to work in a hazardous location alongside colleagues who were unskilled and untrained in managing the risk of sounding the alarm and water jet.
The high-pressure jet of water was only stopped once the water supply was cut. It’s expected Veritas International Consultancy will defend the claim.
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