Bill gets tough on cruise crime

[Jason]

Legislation requires reports of missing passengers

A Connecticut congressman today plans to introduce legislation that will require cruise lines to keep better records and report crimes on the high seas in a timely manner.

The issue of safety aboard cruise ships has gained added attention during the past year following several highly publicized cases of cruise passengers who either are missing from their cruise ships, or fell or jumped overboard.

U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and the International Cruise Victims are the forces behind the proposal, which they are calling the Cruise Line Accurate Safety Statistics Act.

Under the proposal, owners of cruise ships that call at a U.S. port must report any crime, person overboard or missing person incident that happens on board involving an American citizen to the Department of Homeland Security no later than four hours after the master of the cruise ship learns of the incident.

"We still have a long way to go, but this is a first positive step to make the cruise ships safe for all concerned," said Son Michael Pham of Seattle. His parents disappeared without a trace off the Carnival Destiny on May 12, 2005, and he said the circumstances regarding their disappearance are still unknown.

"For many of us who are involved, it is not easy to keep telling the stories over and over, but we are committed, and we feel the obligation," Pham said. "If we don't tell the story, we can't help the next people who step on the cruise ship."

Shays said he has worked with the International Cruise Victims and U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., to craft "legislation that

will improve the transparency of cruise-line safety records and cruise-victims rights. I congratulate the families who have lost loved ones for their dedication and vision. It is their drive to make cruise ships safer that brought this bill to fruition."

"We hope we can get enough support from the public and from other legislators to get this bill passed," Pham said. "I hope the cruise lines and all the legislators will fight the bill, and that will make them look ridiculous because what we're proposing are very simple things. If anything, this will help the cruise lines show they have a vested interest."

Michael Crye, president of International Council of Cruise Lines, has said that cruise lines want safety to be a priority.

"The cruise industry is committed to providing a safe and secure environment, and will continue to work with all appropriate federal agencies to ensure the safety and well-being of all passengers and crew on board our vessels," Crye said in a statement.

The International Council of Cruise Lines declined specific comment of Shays' proposed legislation, pending its formal introduction in Congress.

Family members of missing honeymooner George Allen Smith IV, who disappeared on a Mediterranean cruise, will attend Shays' news conference today in Washington, at which he will formally announced his proposed legislation.

Among the other provisions of the measure:

The cruise company must submit a quarterly report of each crime, missing person or man overboard case which occurs on its vessel to the Department of Homeland Security, which must make the information available on the Internet.

The Department of Homeland Security must inspect each cruise ship that docks in the United States to ensure that ship has adequate equipment and trained personnel to investigate crimes.

A cruise company must refer potential cruise-ticket buyers to the Internet site with cruise crime statistics and provide the name of each country the ship is visiting and the location of the U.S. embassy and consulate in each country.

Ships have experienced at least 52 cases of people going overboard -- 40 of them fatally -- in the past decade, most of them during Caribbean and Bahamas cruises, according to a FLORIDA TODAY analysis of a database compiled by Canadian professor and x Ross Klein.

"There must be a mechanism for enforcing and ensuring that all aspects of all incidents are reported, whether it's a safety or security incident," said Tim Albright, an advocate for cruise victims. "They should institute a whistleblower hotline for passengers and crew members to report incidents immediately, and all incident reports from cruise lines must include name and identification for all crew members who are involved or who are witnesses to the incident. If we don't interview the witnesses quickly, we've lost half of the evidence we may need."

Source: Donna Balancia, Florida Today

[GottaCruz]

It's about time!!!

[JoeyandDavid]

I don't understand , did i miss something.. all this will do is create another paper trail?

I agree something needs to be done ... but I don't know if this is the correct approach....

what about you guys..<]

[Longboysfan]

The Cruise lines should have banded together and come up with reportable incidents list.

What should be reported to local authorities. National and International.

Then the US congress would not get involved.

[sailingrose]

I knew something would come about after all the recent disappearances. Not sure if the government getting in the middle is a good thing or not. I like your idea Longsboyfan that the cruise lines should have done this long ago themselves.

[schatje]

The ships are under maritime law so I don't understand how the government thinks they can make a law to govern this. The ships are represented by many different countries. Would every country have to get involved our can't the cruiselines do the honorable thing and watch out for their patrons. :huh:

[Joanandjoe]

Mary and Andre pose an interesting question: how can U.S. legislation impact international law. I think you'd need a maritime lawyer to sort this one out; meanwhile, Rep. Shays has made a nice political point. I hope the legislation passes and is enforceable; but I fear that Mary and Andre are correct.