Cruise Ship Safety Concerns Reach Congress

Sept. 19, 2007 — -- Some victims of tragedies aboard cruise ships called on Congress today to force the cruise industry to do a better job of making ships safer, while the industry said it already is implementing some changes on its own.

A House Transportation subcommittee held another in a series of hearings on cruise ship security, and heard a disturbing story from Angela Orlich, of Massachusetts, who took a cruise on Royal Caribbean's Nordic Empress in January 2003.

She claimed she was sexually assaulted underwater by a scuba diving instructor, who pulled down her swimsuit and bit her on the breast, while on a shore excursion which she purchased from the ship.

Her experience brought up a common situation with cruise-related crimes.

In crimes committed on land, the police investigate, while independent doctors treat victims. But, on a ship, the security people who investigate the crime, and the doctors and nurses who treat the victim, are employees of the cruise line that could bear financial liability, and be named a defendant in any lawsuit.

So, victims wonder whether the first priority of the cruise line is treating them or protecting its own financial interests.

Orlich testified that when she returned to the ship, she made a verbal report of the assault, and went to see the ship's doctor for an examination. She said the doctor was dismissive, refused to examine her, and told her to see her own doctor when she returned home.

Her experience is common with other cruise tragedy passengers who feel they were victimized twice — first, by the original incident, and again, by the way they say the cruise line treated them when they reported it.

Almost all cruise lines are foreign-flagged ships that are subject to some, but not all, U.S. laws. As hearing chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings pointed out, "Americans are stepping on to a little piece of foreign soil," where they are not afforded protections they would have in the United States.

While cruise ship crime often makes headlines, cruising is probably the safest way to vacation.