Reporting shipboard crimes

THE cruise industry is working to establish a standardized procedure and a single government clearinghouse for reporting allegations of shipboard crimes, said Michael Crye, president of the International Council of Cruise Lines.

The ICCL, which represents most lines serving North America, has met with FBI, U.S. Coast Guard and federal customs and border agency officials to review crime reporting practices, according to its attorney.

The move follows congressional hearings and the founding of International Cruise Victims, an organization of cruise passengers and their families who have been victims of crimes at sea.

The group is urging legislation to increase security and hold the industry more accountable for criminal acts.

It is asking that ships have U.S. marshals and an Interpol-connected police force funded by the cruise industry but acting independently. It is also calling for passenger security bracelets with microchips to help find missing persons and deck-railing alarms to indicate if someone falls overboard.

The group made its proposals March 7 at a hearing by the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations in Washington, D.C.

The panel’s chairman, Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), initiated hearings in December after one of his constituents disappeared last summer on a cruise.

At the hearing, cruise passengers and family members testified about disappearances, rapes and the theft of jewelry at sea. Overall, their testimony detailed slow and sometimes no action by cruise lines.

In an interview last week in Miami Beach, Crye said, “The industry has a responsibility to provide security. There is no reason not to report an incident or cooperate fully.”

Before the hearing, the ICCL released figures showing that for 2003-05, 206 crimes were reported on cruise ships: 178 sexual assaults, 24 missing persons and four robberies. In that time, more than 31 million passengers sailed.

For information on International Cruise Victims: (425) 753-7711, www.internationalcruisevictims.org.

Mary Lu Abbott