After an engine fire caused the ship to lose power at sea, company executives decided to tow the Triumph to Alabama rather than a much closer port in Mexico. The tow lasted five days, Feb. 10-15, 2013. The conditions were so awful that it took just three days for the Miami maritime firm of Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkleman, P.A. to file a class-action lawsuit. Michael Winkleman said in his complaint: “During this time, plaintiffs and all other similarly situated passengers were forced to sleep on deck and/or in other communal areas on the vessel; relieve themselves into buckets, bags, showers, sinks; were given spoiled or rotting food that was unfit for reasonably safe human consumption; and were generally forced to live in squalid conditions that created a severe risk of injury, illness and/or disease. Due to the lack of working plumbing and sanitation systems on the vessel, sewage and/or putrid water filled with urine and feces leaked onto the floors, walls, and ceilings.” Matt Crusan and Melissa Crusan v. Carnival Corp., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, 1:13-cv-20592-KMW.