Miami, July 27 — Stung by news of seagoing sexual assaults, America’s biggest cruise lines declared a tougher anti-crime policy today and promised to report all incidents to the FBI and other police agencies.
The thriving industry’s biggest operator, Carnival Cruise Lines, said two weeks ago that crew aboard its ships had been accused of molestations, rape and other sexual assaults 62 times in the five years through last August. On Wednesday they upped the number to 108 assaults.
Lines other than Carnival, which calls its vessels “Fun Ships,” also acknowledged on-board assaults and have been hit by lawsuits alleging cruise companies inadequately screen the tens of thousands of crew on ships carrying vacationers from U.S. ports.
The Carnival incidents, the first crime statistics to come to light from a leading cruise line, were made public in a filing for a lawsuit by a registered nurse once employed by Carnival. She alleged she was raped by another worker aboard Carnival’s ship Imagination.
Carnival says that statistics show its passengers are safer than they would be in a U.S. city. The cruise line has said the lawsuit is scheduled for trial in November in Miami.
Declaring “zero tolerance for crimes committed on our vessels,” Carnival Corp. Chief Executive Micky Arison and other senior executives promised in an open letter to report all crimes to police on land and to cooperate in any prosecutions.
“This policy establishes a single industry standard that requires allegations of on-board crime be reported to the appropriate law enforcement authorities which, for vessels calling on U.S. ports or crime involving U.S. citizens, would include the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” said the letter, issued by the International Council of Cruise Lines trade group.
Other executives signing the letter on behalf of 16 U.S. cruise lines were Richard Fain, chief executive of Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd., the No. 2 cruise group; Peter Ratcliffe, president of Princess Cruises, a unit of Britain’s Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co.; and Crystal Cruises President Joseph Watters.
Police jurisdictions and laws covering crime at sea vary. Carnival and other lines operating from U.S. ports previously took their cues from those making the accusations in deciding whether or not to report to police on shore, industry officials said.
No plans were in place for centralizing crime statistics for the industry, a spokeswoman for the International Council said.
The new policy, covering lines operating 87 ships with 80 percent of the North American passenger capacity, came six days after Royal Caribbean agreed to plead guilty and pay an $18 million fine for routinely dumping oily bilge water into seas travelled by its ships.
Carnival and other leading cruise companies are enjoying good profits and strong passenger traffic, forecast to reach a record 6 million from North American ports this year.
The companies are expanding their fleet of foreign-flagged ships even while fighting off attempts in Washington to increase regulation of the industry.
© 1999 Reuters.