Congresswoman: Americans 'unknowingly at risk' on cruise ships

[mercedes]

Are you in danger when you're on a cruise ship?

Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) say you are, and they've re-introduced legislation in the U.S. Congress they say would improve your safety at sea.

"For far too long, American families have unknowingly been at risk when they have embarked on what should have been relaxing sea voyages," Matsui said Thursday in a statement accompanying the introduction of the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2009.

The legislation would formally require cruise lines to report allegations of crimes on ships to the U.S. Coast Guard and FBI, something they already do voluntarily. It also would require cruise ships to carry materials needed to perform a medical examination to determine if a passenger had been raped, and it calls for a licensed medical practitioner to be on every ship to perform the examinations.

Kerry and Matsui introduced similar legislation last June that was not passed into law.

Industry watchers say serious crimes such as rape and murder on cruise ships are rare, but the topic of how the industry handles alleged crimes on ships has been getting more attention in Washington in recent years in the wake of several high profile cases in which foul play was suspected by some.

Former Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) took up the issue after one of his constituents, George Smith of Greenwich, Conn., went missing on a Royal Caribbean cruise in 2005 in a case that drew national headlines. The case remains unresolved. Kerry often has pointed to another high profile case, the disappearance of Massachusetts resident Merrian Carver, 40, from a Royal Caribbean ship in 2004. The woman's father, Ken Carver, has since co-founded an advocacy group called International Cruise Victims that has lobbied for legislation to regulate cruise lines.

In addition to the new crime reporting requirements, the proposed legislation would mandate that:

-- Guard rails on balconies reach 54 inches in height, a major change for the industry. Balcony railings on many ships currently are around 44 inches high.

-- Cabin doors have peep holes, security latches, and time sensitive key technology.

-- Ship owners install technology to detect when a passenger falls overboard.

-- Ship owners develop procedures to determine which crew members have access to cabins and when.

-- Cruise ships keep log books where officers would record all deaths, missing individuals, alleged crimes, and passenger/crew member complaints regarding theft, sexual harassment, and assault. The log books would have to be available to the FBI and the U.S. Coast Guard electronically and statistical information about crime reports would have to be posted on a public website.

The legislation also would authorize the U.S. Coast Guard to dispatch personnel to monitor discharge of waste on cruise ships, to verify logbook entries related to waste treatment and disposal, and to act as public safety officers by securing and collecting evidence of alleged crimes.

The Cruise Lines International Association, which represents major cruise lines, issued the following statement on the proposed legislation.

[hazelson]

Makes good sense but might be hard to follow through on.

[JoeyandDavid]

One option would be to give the victim a report number that is in turn generated when the report is processed on line from the ship directly to law enforcement agency.(U.S. Coast Guard and FBI) Then once home the victim could contact that local office for followup

[deb1220]

I agree there needs to be more accountability by the cruise lines BUT some of the "crimes" and "falling overboard" etc... are from the irresponsibility of some passengers.

[sailingrose]

I agree there needs to be more accountability by the cruise lines BUT some of the "crimes" and "falling overboard" etc... are from the irresponsibility of some passengers.

I agree Deb about the falling overboard. It's not easy to do.

[boba]

Deb, you're right but I think most, not some responsability falls on the pax.

[rogue]

I read an article a few years ago about crime at some of the all-inclusives in the Caribbean. It said that some of these places had crimes committed pretty frequently, but they were rarely if ever reported to the authorities. Even when they were reported, rarely did anything come of it. The article said that the governments of the countries in which the resorts were located wanted no publicity because it may decrease the tourist trade. I wonder why the Congress doesn't try to do something about that also.

Another thing, hotels in the US also have suicides committed. People do jump from windows. Maybe they should pass a law that no hotel window should be allowed to be opened. Or maybe they should get rid of the windows altogether. I agree that cruiselines should certainly be more accountable, but picking on just them sure doesn't make any sense. One good thing is that if less people take cruises because of this, prices will stay down.