Crime aboard cruise ships comes to light

WASHINGTON — During a five-month period beginning in April, the cruise industry reported a total of 207 suspected crimes, including 41 sexual assaults, under new standardized reporting procedures adopted this spring, the FBI told a congressional hearing Wednesday.

Nineteen were alleged rapes, spurring the FBI to open 13 investigative cases, FBI Deputy Assistant Director Salvador Hernandez told the panel. The cruise lines carried about 4.4 million passengers over the five-month period.

The crime reports — which aren't readily available to the public except through formal Freedom of Information Act petitions — offered the first quantitative look at onboard cruise security since the industry agreed to voluntarily report alleged rapes and other serious crimes to the FBI and Coast Guard — even in instances where it isn't mandatory.

At the hearing of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, Coast Guard and FBI officials said the industry is reporting incidents in a timely manner and no legislation seems necessary. "It's working well," Rear Adm. Wayne Justice said.

But victims and their advocates asked for more. They want rape kits available for immediate use on every ship, victim advocates on board, improved video surveillance, peepholes in cabin doors and deactivation of passkeys when ship employees are off duty.

"It's time for legislation. It's time for Congress to step in," said William Sullivan, a lawyer representing a woman who reported being raped by a cabin steward who used his passkey to enter her room while she slept. Sullivan has alleged the ship's staff then sedated his client knowing it might fuzzy her account, and didn't give her proper medical treatment.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the panel's chairman, said he wants the industry to report on its progress in three months before deciding whether another hearing or legislation is needed. It's unclear how many lawmakers would embrace more regulations for the industry.

Cummings and Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., who has a constituent who reported being raped on a cruise, said the public should have easy access to researching a cruise line's reported incidents, rather than having to file Freedom of Information Act requests.

Matsui also balked when the FBI's Hernandez said the bureau would be distributing DVDs to cruise ship staff to advise them how to retain evidence and secure crime scenes.

The FBI simply doesn't have the resources to train ship employees onsite, Hernandez acknowledged.

"We need to have on-site training," said Matsui.

Terry Dale, president of the Cruise Line International Association, said the industry trade group, among other things, is creating a survivor working group to meet quarterly and discuss recommendations.

Gary Bald, senior vice president and global chief security officer for Royal Caribbean Cruises, said his company plans to refit cabin doors with peepholes. It also has hired more security guards per ship, added two experienced female investigators to its security team to oversee sexual-assault investigations, and contracted to bring private investigators with specialized training on board to respond to incidents.

Royal Caribbean also plans to give passengers 24-hour telephone access to a sexual assault hot line. Bald said the industry also is looking at whether it's legally possible to create a "blacklist" database, so that one cruise line doesn't hire a problem employee from another company.

— — —

(McClatchy Newspapers correspondent Erika Bolstad contributed to this report.)

— — —

(c) 2007, The Miami Herald.

Visit The Miami Herald Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.herald.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

AP-NY-09-19-07 1943EDT