Proposed Bill Would Address Violence Aboard Cruise Ships

June 23, 2009 by Suzanne Conlon

The $22 billion cruise industry has grown in recent years, and there have been enough reports of on-board assault submitted to the FBI that a Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act has been submitted to committee by Senator John Kerry, D-MA. 

According to Salvador Hernandez, who was deputy assistant director of the FBI in 2007, the agency opened 184 cases pertaining to crimes committed on board cruise ships between 2002 and 2007.  It is suspected that there are many crimes that are never reported, as is the case with sexual assaults on land.

“Travelers have this idea they are in a special cocoon where nothing bad can happen,” said Charles Lipcon, a lawyer representing a woman who says she was assaulted on board a ship.  “That’s just not true.”

According to an FBI affidavit, Lipcon’s client says a crew member on her cruise ship, the Coral Princess, blocked the doors to a room on the ship and forced her to perform oral sex on him.

The language of the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, sponsored by Senator John Kerry, states that “few vacationing passengers on cruise vessels fully appreciate their potential vulnerability to crime while on an ocean voyage, and those who are victimized often do not know their legal rights or whom to contact for help in the immediate aftermath of the crime.”

The act seeks to address potential safety issues by amending title 46 of U.S. Code.  It would require crew access to passenger staterooms to be restricted and that cruise companies complete more thorough reports about deaths, missing individuals, and alleged crimes. 

The act would also establish a database of crew members terminated due to commission of a crime and require cruise companies to make sure that rape kits are present on board vessels, as well as require crime scene investigation training and certification for crew members and increased video surveillance.

Cruise ship operators who refused to comply with the requirements of the law would face a fine of up to $250,000 and/or 1 year imprisonment, and vessels operated by violators who failed to comply with penalties could be denied entry to the United States.

At this point, the bill has been referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation for discussion.  It has not been up for vote in the House or Senate.