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Ships embarking or disembarking in the United States adhere to something called the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (CVSSA). In the case of crime on ships, this law requires that cruise lines report certain major crimes to the FBI. Crimes to be reported include homicide, assault with serious injury, theft of over $10,000 and sexual assault, among others. The statistics in the report include homicides, suspicious deaths, missing U.S. nationals, kidnappings, assaults with bodily injury, thefts of more than $10,000, vessel tampering, and sexual assaults. Several major cruise lines including Carnival, Royal Caribbean and the Disney Cruise Line are included in the statistics.
The Relationship between Cruises and Sexual Assault
If you’ve been the victim of a crime on a cruise ship, the first thing you should do is take every measure to ensure you are safe and healthy. While the FBI has jurisdiction over crimes committed at sea, they rarely get involved unless there is a risk of physical injury or death. The average per capita sexual assault rate in the U.S. is 40 (per 100,000).
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It mandates reporting crimes to U.S. authorities, implementing security technology such as surveillance systems, and ensuring vessel design includes features to prevent and respond to crimes at sea. Cruise ships typically have security personnel on board who are employees of the cruise line, not law enforcement officials. CLIA argued that cruise ship crime rates should be based on the total number of people cruising in any year (around 31,500,000 cruised last year) rather than the average number of people populating cruise ships on any given day. By analogy, the per capita crime statistics for U.S. cities are calculated based on the number of residents in a city. Tourists who visit the city during the year are not counted as residents.
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This training covers the use of surveillance technology, personal safety drills, and crime response protocols. The report states "the ship plans on dismissing this crew member upon arrival," to port. In a separate lawsuit, a passenger on the MSC Meraviglia says she was attacked in March after her waiter on the ship followed her cousin back to the room the women were sharing.
These teams are prepared to address security issues rapidly and are often comparable to land-based law enforcement officers. The presence of these teams is to deter potential security threats and to provide immediate assistance when needed. Major cruise lines typically maintain sophisticated security departments run by former professional law enforcement officials and have a staff of competent, qualified security personnel available 24/7. All of these figures cover reported crimes among both passengers and crew on the ship. Department of Transportation website provides updates on crimes aboard ships reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Cruise ships are ready to be back – but the state of Florida wants to have a say in how that happens, specifically when it comes to COVID-19 vaccination. When one person is injured through the actions or negligence of another, they often must file a personal injury lawsuit in order to recoup their losses. What many forget, though, are the natural dangers present on the open seas, dangers that when they make themselves apparent can be quite frightening. What if you booked a $32,000 cruise before coronavirus hit and the cruise line refused to let you cancel it? Soothed by the gentle crash of the ocean, the warm rays of the sun, and the promise of a tropical destination, its easy for passengers on a cruise to forget their worries. The Week is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher.
Most cruise lines also have lifeguards on duty to monitor pools and offer life jackets for kids for free. It’s still a good idea to keep an eye on kids near any body of water. The best advice is to exercise good judgment, using common sense in foreign ports. This includes not traveling in unfamiliar areas alone, not overindulging in alcohol, and also not wearing flashy jewelry or showing wads of cash. Before getting too far, it’s important to explain that when it comes to safety, it can actually entail different things to different people.
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To place the sexual crimes on Carnival Cruise Line ship in perspective, thirty-one (31) such crimes were reported occurring on this cruise line’s ships in all of 2022. The prorated number of sexual crimes on Carnival ship in 2023 would reflect an increase of over 50% from the number in 2022. Over the years, we have reported on numerous out-of-control bar fights on Carnival ships. Two weeks ago, we reported on a criminal case brought against a passenger named Michael Truman who viciously attacked another guest on the Carnival Magic. According to a local newspaper article, the victim was walking out of a theater on the ship to look for a crew member to remove Mr. Truman after asking him multiple times to quiet down. Truman then reportedly climbed on top of the victim and continued striking him, leaving facial lacerations that required 19 stitches, an affidavit in the court file reads.
Carnival, specifically, had the highest number of sexual assault reports of the companies. The most serious crimes of homicides, suspicious death and missing passengers, totaled only 11 incidents during the five quarters we looked at. Assault and sexual assault were hands-down the predominant reported crimes onboard, totaling 14 incidents for physical assaults and 72 cases of sexual assault during the 15-month period. For instance, in the last year there have been a total of 137 major crimes reported on cruise ships.
There is a direct correlation between excessive alcohol served on Carnival’s “fun ships” and violence, in general, and sexual violence against women, in particular. Bartenders and waiters on Carnival cruise ships are not paid a salary by Carnival but depend on tips and gratuities. The bartenders are motivated to sell excessive amounts of alcohol in order to earn a living. There is no independent police force on these increasingly huge cruise ships. Girls and young women are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse in what is often a lawless environment.
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There were forty-five sexual assaults on Carnival ships reported in all of 2019 – the last full year before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the cruise industry down in 2020. Carnival Cruise Line is on track to exceed the number of sexual crimes last year compared to 2019. In total, thirty-five sexual assaults allegedly occurred on cruise ships last quarter. Carnival Cruise Line had the most reported, with a total of 20 such crimes. In addition to sexual crimes, last quarter Carnival Cruise Line had five physical assaults leading to serious bodily injury, bringing Carnival to a total of fourteen (14) physical assaults with serious bodily injury for 2023.
In 2017, federal authorities reported a total of 106 crimes, including 76 sexual assaults, 13 serious assaults, eight thefts of more than $10,000 and two kidnappings, according to DOT numbers, which compiles the figures in quarterly totals. Each type of crime carries its own implication for the safety and well-being of individuals on cruise ships, underlying the importance of stringent security measures and legal protocols in these international waters. Finally, when it comes to the question of whether cruises are safe, you might have concerns about some of the most headline-grabbing incidents in cruising.
A recidivist corporate cruise felon like Carnival, with its culture of cover up, lies & misinformation, will inevitably try to cover-up the crimes, blame the victims and lie to the public. The Department of Transportation began publishing data on sexual assault incidents after Congress passed legislation in 2010 related to safety on cruise ships. CLIA calls that type of reporting “unprecedented” compared to other sectors of travel and tourism. If the victim or perpetrator of a sexual assault is an American national, and their ship sails from or to a U.S. port, then the FBI will have jurisdiction over the case.
It is reasonable to ask whether several of these sexual assault victims were children. Carnival Cruise Line reported thirty-six (36) such incidents for the first three quarters of the year, including thirty-one passengers who were attacked (the remainder were identified as crew members or “unknown”). Prorated for the rest of the year, the number of sexual assaults and rapes on Carnival Cruise Line ships would be forty-eight (48). The Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (CVSSA) of 2010 prescribes security and safety requirements for most cruise ships that embark and disembark in the United States. The Act mandates that reports of criminal activity be reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Even so, there are some specific statistics that we think readers should know about. Even so, it’s important for every cruise passenger to know that while we’d consider a cruise a safe vacation, it doesn’t mean that things can’t happen on the ship. One of the main factors that could be contributing to the assault numbers is access to alcohol on board the ships. In addition, bartenders on Carnival ships are not paid a regular salary and rely on tips, according to Jim Walker, a maritime attorney, giving the employees incentive to sell excessive amounts of alcohol. "There is a direct correlation between excessive alcohol served on Carnival's 'fun ships' and violence, in general, and sexual violence against women, in particular," he added.
Congress rejected CLIA’s argument and concluded that per capita cruise crime statistics should be calculated based on the average number of passengers sailing at a particular time, not on the annual number of passengers. After initially requiring the FBI to report the crimes to the United States Coast Guard, the CVSSA now requires cruise lines to report the crimes to the Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT was tasked with posting the crime data on a quarterly basis on a spreadsheet located on an internet portal which you can see here. But jurisdiction is a tricky issue when it comes to cruise crime, often requiring international negotiations between the U.S. government, authorities in foreign ports and officials from the registered or "flagged" country of the ship.
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