They didn't do everything possible to ensure that their passengers and crew could get off the sip safely in an emergency. There should have been enough lifeboats on board to fit all passengers, they did meet legal requirements for that time, but morally and ethically they really should have had enough life boats for everyone. White Star Lines also failed to heed warnings. They were negligent and owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, every passenger on the ship relied on the White Star Lines to keep them safe on their journey. .
The White Star Line and its agents, the crew of the Titanic, behaved in an unreasonable manner in many ways, all of which individually and collectively resulted in the most modern ship in the world, equipped a modern radio, hitting a large iceberg on a clear night in calm seas. .
There are many elements of negligence on White Star Line's part in this case. They failed to do something someone of 'ordinary care' would do.
Definition of Negligence:.
NEGLIGENCE - The failure to use reasonable care. The doing of something which a reasonably prudent person would not do, or the failure to do something which a reasonably prudent person would do under like circumstances. A departure from what an ordinary reasonable member of the community would do in the same community.
Negligence is a 'legal cause' of damage if it directly and in natural and continuous sequence produces or contributes substantially to producing such damage, so it can reasonably be said that if not for the negligence, the loss, injury or damage would not have occurred.
Negligence may be a legal cause of damage even though it operates in combination with the act of another, a natural cause, or some other cause if the other cause occurs at the same time as the negligence and if the negligence contributes substantially to producing such damage.
The sinking of the Titanic was an unintentional tort. The defendant clearly owed a duty of care (to ensure that the passengers of the Titanic arrived safely to New York), there was a breech of duty (failure to be cautious after hearing seven iceberg warnings) and the plaintiff definitely suffered a loss because as a result of that breech.
