Kendall Carver Appearing Before U. S. Senate’s Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Subcommittee

When I and other victims testified at the Congressional Hearing in March of 2006,we shared our stories to show the need for substantial changes in cruise line practices and we presented a 10-point program developed by ICV members to improve safety on cruise ships. I, along with other ICV members, have personally attended several meetings with CLIA and cruise lines representatives concerning suggestions made by our members. The standard answer from them is the “these are great ideas, however we have another approach.” Even after all of these meetings, the problem is that we have seen no firm written commitments for any significant change. (See Attachment IV)

What have we learned during this past couple of years concerning this industry?

1. Cruise Ships take the legal position that they are not required to investigate crimes on cruise ships and are not equipped to do so. This is documented in various items we have available. These documents indicate that any information they give to the FBI or Coast Guard is provided on a purely voluntary basis. In addition, they take to position that they are also are not responsible for the medical care or accidents that occur on excursions that they have chosen, promoted and also make a substantial commission on when sold to their passengers.(See Attachment I)

2. At the request of a Congressional Committee in March of 2007, we met with the FBI on July 25, 2007 to review this matter. At this meeting the FBI

clearly indicated that they do not have the resources to follow up on the

various crimes that occur on cruise ships. Records indicate that in 2005 only 50 cases were opened and there were only 4 convictions of people

committing crimes. (See Attachment I)

3. Since the cruise ships do not investigate crimes and report them only on a voluntary basis to the FBI and since the FBI says they do not have the

resources to follow up on those crimes that are reported, most criminals are not apprehended or punished for the crimes they commit on cruise ships. As Representative Christopher Shays has indicated, “it is the perfect place to commit a crime.

4. In addition, a well-known Internet site, Cruise Critic, in an editorial dated

May 16, 2008, cites results of a survey of 1700 people that have taken a

cruise and found that 10% of respondents said yes to the question:

“Have you ever been affected by crime, minor or major, on a cruise

ship?” Dr. Ross Klein, Professor of social work at Memorial University of

Newfoundland, indicates that, “These numbers would suggest that as many as one million Americans have been victims of a crime on a cruise ship.” If a resort had 10% of their customers indicate that they had been affected by a crime at that resort, there would be extensive investigations by legal authorities. (See Attachment I)

5. With the added concern of terrorism, Passengers on cruise ships need the same protection as passengers have on airlines that currently have

independent national Sky Marshalls for protection. In the October 16, 2006

issue of the Insurance Journal, an article titled, “Maritime Terrorism Risk

Extends to Cruise Ships and Ferry Boats”, states that cruise ships and ferry boats need more protection than they now have against terrorist attacks that could kill and injure many passengers and cause serious financial losses. This conclusion is based on a new RAND Corporation report. (See Attachment V)

In the September 2007 House Hearings, chaired by Elijah Cummings, the

representatives of the cruise lines were given 90 days to provide to his committee a report on what they were willing to do. This report was delivered to the committee on December 19, 2007. A careful review of this report shows that after all the various meetings and congressional hearings the cruise lines are unwilling to commit in writing to any real changes from what they’re doing currently. (See Attachment IV)

As a result of their unwillingness to make commitments for change, the U.S House of Representatives, on April 24, 2008, passed an Amendment to the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act measuring crime on cruise ships to require cruise lines to make public their actual crime statistics of missing persons and crimes on cruise ships and to make that information available to the public. Assuming this also passes the Senate, this will be one step forward to at least make public the crimes on cruise ships.

Because of the concern regarding the lack of regulation of the cruise line industry, legislation has also recently been introduced in California to place appropriate California licensed independent security, called Ocean Rangers, on cruise ships as they enter or leave California waters. This bill has gone through several committees in the California legislature and on May 28, 2008 was passed by the California Senate 25 to 12.

The cruise line industry has strongly opposed this California initiative to place one security officer on their ships by threatening in testimony to the California Senate committee on Appropriations on May 12, 2008 that they would bypass California ports if the legislation passed. In view of the crime rates reported by the Cruise Critic survey, the industry should gladly accept independent security and thereby provide their passengers with the same protections that they would have in major resorts in this country where the police are called if a crime occurs.

We need to address solutions to this problem, in order to protect future passengers and crew. The goal of ICV is not to damage cruise lines but to hold them accountable for the safety of future passengers and crewmembers and to require prompt and accurate reports to authorities of crimes, deaths, disappearances and other matters that would normally be investigated if they had occurred on land.

Since 1999 cruise lines have had a stated policy that they have a zero tolerance for crimes. This would infer that there is nothing that they would not do to prevent crimes on cruise ships. However, after our several meetings with representatives of cruise lines to explore various suggestions coming from victims and their families, the cruise lines have yet to commit in writing to any changes. (See Attachment IV)

Meanwhile, they aggressively oppose any new legislation to improve the safety on cruise ships. In fact, in 2007 this foreign cruise line industry spent over $2,800,000 in Washington for lobbying. In contrast, Wal-Mart spent $280,000.

Frankly, we have no money to lobby, only the many victims and their passion for change that are working for ICV every day. Fortunately, you were elected by the people you represent and not the lobbyist for a foreign corporation.

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