Two women who survived the Ethan Allen boat capsizing in New York have filed lawsuits in federal court against the boat's operator.

Margaret Kidon, 65, and Barbara Bommarito, 73, both from the Detroit suburb of Trenton, were among a group of 47 senior citizens who were on the boat on Lake George when it capsized last Sunday, killing 20 people, including 19 from Michigan.

The lawsuits, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, claim damages in excess of $75,000, accusing Shoreline Cruises Inc., which owns the boat, and the boat's captain, Richard Paris, of gross negligence.

A spokesman for Shoreline Cruises, Drew Ferguson, declined comment on the lawsuits Saturday.

The filings came on the same day Paris acknowledged the Ethan Allen was carrying more passengers than usual when it capsized.

Kidon and Bommarito continue to have severe upper respiratory problems from swallowing diesel fuel and water, said Ven Johnson, their lawyer.

”These people are literally haunted every day by the memory,“ Johnson told the Detroit Free Press. ”They have to justify to themselves every single day why God spared them and not their friends who were sitting in the seats next to them.“

Federal investigators are trying to determine whether the boat was overcrowded or rendered unstable by modifications, and whether human factors or a wake from another boat could have contributed to the incident.

Ferguson said Friday the boat was approved for carrying up to 50 people when it was inspected in May 2005.