Bangkok--Sep 27--eTurboNews
The US Maritime Security Expo was recently held at the Javits Convention Center in New York. When I read the workshop schedule, I noticed that one of the panelists was J. Michael Crye, president of the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL). Thinking this would be a terrific opportunity to get an update on cruise line safety and security I made repeated attempts to get an interview with this former Coast Guard officer. Calls to his office, public relations representatives and a personal approach did not work, so I have scoured the archives to find out what is happening with cruise line safety and security.
Passengers Just Disappear
The most recent cruise ship passenger disappearance was George Smith who vanished on July 5, 2005. The only traces of Mr. Smith were, according to MSNBC's Clint van Zandt, blood stains on the cabin floor, the bed, balcony rail and handprint on the lifeboat just below the balcony of Smith's cabin. To date Mr. Smith has not been located and no criminal charges have been filed although the FBI and the US Attorney for Connecticut are investigating the case.
According to van Zandt, this is not the first time that a cruise line passenger has gone missing. The International Council of Cruise Lines informed van Zandt "in the last year alone, at least a dozen people have disappeared from cruise ships, most of whom remained unaccounted for." While this may be a small percentage of the almost 9 million people from North America traveling on cruise ships in 2005, it is still significant to note that cruising is not entirely fun, sun and rock and roll.
Van Zandt chronicles other cruise line disappearances:
-March 1998 - Amy Lynn Bradley disappeared from the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Rhapsody of the Seas while traveling in the Caribbean
-July 5, 1999 - James Scavone disappeared from a Carnival Cruise Line in the Caribbean (exactly six years to the day before George Smith's disappearance)
-December 4, 2004 - Annette Mizener disappeared from the Carnival Cruise ship Pride enroute to Mexico
-May 2005 an elderly couple disappeared from the Carnival Cruise ship Destiny enroute to Aruba
Who Can Be Trusted?
According to David Biachi of Stewart, Tilghmann Fox and Bianchi, in 1999 Carnival Cruise Lines admitted that crewmembers had assaulted both passengers and fellow crewmembers 108 times from 1993 to 1998. Of these assaults, 22 were rapes, with the remaining incidents involved kissing, touching and other improper behavior. The accused crew included a cabin steward, assistant cook, supervisors, engineers and even a chief security officer.
Terrorists in the Next Cabin
Dan Walsh of International Maritime Inc. determined that the US cruise ship industry is vulnerable to both domestic and international security challenges since they take domestic and international passengers to and from foreign ports. In addition, cruise ships face the possibility of terrorist threats that are executed in international waters, miles from the nearest port or law enforcement agency. It was only 20 years ago (1985) when terrorists seized the cruise ship Achille Lauro and killed an American passenger. Prior to this incident, a group of Portuguese protesters took over a passenger/cruise ship in Brazilian waters. In both situations, the terrorists came aboard as passengers.
Walsh's discussion of the industry highlights the fact that cruise ships are by definition high visibility locales for large gatherings of people and promise public exposure of the sort that concerns officials at such events as the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics. Currently cruise ships carry 2,000 to 3,000 people, plus a crew of up to 1,000 and they are getting larger each year. The loss of one of these ships could devastate the industry. If it took place in US waters, an immediate response would be more stringent security measures, restricting the nation's maritime industry for a long time.
Sex at Sea
The US Attorney General's Miami office has determined that three of every four incidents of crime on cruise ships reported in this locale are sexual offenses and mostly against young women aged 21 and under. However, it is not only young women at risk. . .in 2003 a cruise ship passenger from Washington State was charged with raping and sexually abusing a minor aboard the Star Princess. In another sexual rape incident (1997) Samantha and Emilio Romero decided to spend their 10th anniversary onboard Carnival Cruise Lines. The celebration turned into a nightmare when a Carnival employee allegedly drugged the couple and sexually assaulted Samantha in her cabin.
I've Been Robbed
According to maritime lawyer James Walker in an interview with Linda Coffman with about.com, passengers who have had items stolen from their staterooms have very little recourse since most tickets limit the cruise line's liability for theft. Carnival excludes any liability for money, jewelry or other valuables "left lying around the vessel or cabin." Even if the cruise lines are negligent, there is a $100 limit of liability for lost valuables, and a $500 limit if the valuables are deposited in a safe deposit box in the purser's office and then lost or stolen.
Accountability
University of Pennsylvania criminologist William S. Laufer reminds us that "no law enforcement officials are aboard" cruise ships, and as of 2000 nearly all Carnival Cruise Line security chiefs were foreign nationals with little or no law-enforcement experience, according to Miami New Times reporter Tristram Korten. The chief of security for the Fascination is a former hotel guard from India, and the head of security aboard the Imagination is the former ships carpenter and teacher from Honduras.
In a response to cruise line crime, the industry developed a uniform standard requiring that all reports of crimes on board ships be relayed to law enforcement authorities. Under the standard, accusations of crime on ships will be automatically reported to the FBI for any vessel that calls on US ports or any incident involving its citizens. Previously, cruise ships victims decided whether to report crimes to law enforcement officials.
However, there is often a question of jurisdiction. Cruise lines do not have to answer to American authorities. Most ships are registered in foreign countries, primarily Liberia and Panama, which enables the ships to avoid the US legal system, labor laws and US taxes.
Responsible
When there is a crime onboard a ship, who investigates? A US citizen onboard a foreign vessel can contact the FBI, however, if the ship is in port or just off the coast, the local police have no jurisdiction, in addition, the companies aide and abet the alleged culprits. In five lawsuits against Carnival reviewed in New Times, reporters found that the company helped at least five employees accused of rape to leave the country and fought to keep a waiter accused of attacking a Minnesota woman from being sued. Carnival disclosed the misdeeds of its crew in 1999 only after the judge in a lawsuit brought by a former employee who alleged that the ships engineer had raped her ordered to it. These were the first statistics about any type of crime released by a cruise company.
Sea Sick
According to Consumer Reports, there are no international standards governing medical care on cruise ships. In addition, there are no regulations that cover infirmary facilities or equipment. Ships are not required to have physicians on board, although the largest companies do sail with at least one doctor and one nurse on each ship.
Dr. Phyllis Kozarsky of Emory University has stated that cruise ship passengers are on a "floating biological island." With large numbers of people in close proximity to each other, sharing public spaces, passengers should "exercise common sense and be prepared." A 1996 Consumer Report survey found that of the medical facilities and staff qualifications of 11 cruise lines, 27 percent of shipboard nurses and doctors were not certified in advanced cardiac life support; 54 percent of doctors were not certified in trauma life support; and 45 percent of doctors were not board certified in the areas of practice. In terms of medical equipment, the same study found that of ships surveyed, 72 percent had no floor mounted x-ray equipment, 45 percent had no mechanical ventilators or external pacemakers, and 63 percent had no labs to do blood tests used to diagnose heart attacks.
In one reported case, the 14-year old daughter of Darcy and Kristopher Carlisle was misdiagnosed by a shipboard physician who said she had influenza while in reality she had appendicitis. In many instances, cruise lines contend that the onboard doctors are not their employees but are instead, "independent contractors." The cruise lines claim immunity from liability in all cases where the ship doctors injure passengers, particularly if there is evidence of gross medical malpractice leading to death. Most passengers do not realize that the doctors usually work only six to eight month contracts and return to their country of origin. If they can be found, the ship doctors are not usually subject to jurisdiction in the US courts (cruiselaw.com).
Dying is not a good thing, and a death at sea is even worse. If a passenger dies due to inadequate medical care while the ship is in international waters, the surviving family's recovery is limited to financial losses. A statute called the "Death on the High Seas Act" applies. Emotional injuries such as grief, sorrow, pain and loss of love and affection are typically not recoverable. If the passenger is not a wage earner (i.e. a retiree, homemaker or child), the only potential recovery is limited to funeral and burial expenses.
Pollution
Not all nefarious activities on cruise ships are focused on passengers - some misdeeds are environmentally harmful. According to Thomas Pickard, Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative Division of the FBI, "Environmental crimes continue to be a top priority of the FBI, and we will aggressively pursue polluters." In 2003 three senior cruise ship engineers were indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami, Florida for their role in concealing the overboard dumping of waste oil from the SS Norway (Norwegian Cruise Lines) in false log books designed to deceive the US Coast Guard. NCL, one of the world's largest cruise lines, previously pled guilty and paid a $1 million criminal fine and $500,000 in community service in connection with the case. The cruise line's outside auditor actually witnessed NCL engineers aboard the SS Norway in the act of circumventing the ship's Oil Water Separator, a required pollution prevention device.
In 1998, a US judge ordered Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, the world's second largest cruise line, to pay $1 million fine for dumping oily bilge waste into the ocean and lying about it. The penalty was part of a plea bargain agreement that required the company to pay a total of $9 million, the largest pollution fines ever assessed against a cruise company for dumping oil into Caribbean and Atlantic waters.
In-security
Former President Bill Clinton on April 27, 1999, signed an Executive Memorandum directing the establishment of the Interagency Commission on Crime and Security in US Seaports. He called for a "comprehensive review of the nature and extent of seaport crime and the overall state of security in seaports. . ." In the agency's 2000 report it was determined that the large numbers of US citizens sailing on international cruises pose a special risk from a security perspective, making it much more akin to the air transport environment.
The agency found that the worldwide cruise ship fleet carries nearly 10 million passengers (2000). Although approximately 80 percent of cruise line passengers are US citizens and only 20 percent are aliens, approximately 92 percent of all crewmembers are aliens, presenting significant opportunities for increased threats from terrorism as well as stowaways and the import of illegal substances. The report calls for increased security and the integration of all governmental agencies at all levels to immediately address the very significant issues relating to port security.
All Aboard
Travelers love cruising. The popularity for this holiday venue continues to increase as a result of very smart marketing, and the dissemination of very limited safety and security information. However, if a passenger has been harmed at sea there are steps that can be taken to seek resolution.
1. Read the ticket
2. Injured passengers must send a letter to the cruise lines within a short period of time, usually six months, advising the company that they intend to seek compensation
3. Passengers usually have one year in which to file a lawsuit when they have been injured. If they are one day late they lose their right to seek compensation.
4. Injured passengers have the burden to prove the cruise line is legally responsible for the accident
5. Passengers must keep receipts for all out-of-pocket expenses, insurance claims and medical bills
6. Obtain a copy of the shipboard medical records prior to disembarking. The cruise line may try to put passengers off the ship without them: Be insistent!
The most important issue is liability. Passengers need proof that the cruise line was negligent. Passengers have to establish:
1. There was a danger aboard the ship
2. That the cruise line knew or should have known of the hazard, yet failed to correct the hazard or warn passengers of the dangers. This is often difficult to establish.
3. Take photographs and video of the accident scene
4. Prepare detailed notes of the occurrence and include the names and addresses of all witnesses
Cruising is truly an example of caveat emptor: If passengers do not take care of themselves, there appears to be no one who can - or will.
For more information, please contact
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http://www.travelwirenews.com/medie End.