ABC Nightline has posted the video of its program last night regarding the sexual assault of a 14 year old girl on the Carnival Freedom cruise ship. Carnival crew member Hery Krispiyanto raped the child during a cruise in 2009.
Tonight, ABC's Nightline will cover the story of a 14 year old child who was sexually assaulted by a Carnival crew member aboard the Freedom cruise ship.
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This is a story which we covered last May:
Carnival Cruise Ship Bartender Arrested On Charges Of Raping 14 Year Old Passenger
Hery Krispiyanto, age 30, from Klitren, Yogykarta (Indonesia) worked aboard Carnival's Freedom as a bartender. The 14-year-old girl, identified only as "Taylor" to protect her identity, was vacationing with her parents during the Carnival cruise which left Fort Lauderdale in April 2009. During the cruise, the minor and her parents became acquainted with Krispiyanto who waited on the family. When the minor was alone on the upper deck of the ship one night, Krispiyanto walked up behind her, grabbed her arm and pulled her into a nearby employee-only room and closed the door, court records disclose.
We have written many articles about the problem of crew members preying on children on cruise ships:
Sexual Assault of Children on Cruise Ships - A Problem the Cruise Community Wants to Forget
Why Cruises are NOT the Best Vacations with Kids
Should Travel Agents Be Liable For Falsely Representing That Cruises Are Safe For Kids?
Passenger Indicted for Sexual Abuse of 13 Year Old Girl on Disney Wonder Cruise Ship
Top Ten Reasons Not To Cruise: No. 1 - Cruise Lines Are A Perfect Place To Sexually Abuse Children
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Photograph top Seminole Co. Sheriff's Office (via Palm Beach Post)
Photograph bottom Hery Krispiyanto's Friendster page
A passenger from New York has finally been imprisoned for sexually assaulting a 13 year old girl on the Disney Wonder cruise ship.
A year ago we reported on this crime - Passenger Indicted for Sexual Abuse of 13 Year Old Girl on Disney Wonder Cruise Ship.
The girl's family sailed on the Disney Wonder in December 2006. On New Year's Day January 2007, after the girl attended a program at the cruise ship's teen club with other girls, twenty-four year old Lucas George Wickes approached them and ordered them to return to their rooms. He told the girl to follow him because he was a security officer with the cruise ship. When they reached an area where no other people were around, he then assaulted the girl.
A federal district court sentenced Wickes to 46 months in prison and ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of $2,667.
The Bermuda Sun reports today that a Princess Cruises crew member has been arrested for what is described as a "sex attack" on a woman on a cruise ship. The newspaper identifies Filipino Johnwill Reyes Abdon, age 40, as the crew member who allegedly committed the crime.
The incident occurred on the Caribbean Princess, a Bermuda-registered vessel, on December 28, 2010.
The article does not mention whether the victim was a cruise passenger or another crew member.
Sexual assaults on cruise ships are not rare, as the cruise industry leads the public to believe. We have attended five Congressional hearings since 2005 where Congress was provided with evidence of literally hundreds of incidents of sexual assaults on cruises.
Cruise expert Professor Ross Klein studied cruise crime statistics provided to the U.S. Congress and concluded that passengers run nearly twice the risk of being sexually assaulted aboard a ship than they do on land.
We have written about rapes on Princess Cruises before in articles: Unsafe on the "Love Boat?" - Sexual Assaults on Princess Cruise Ships and Princess Cruises Sexual Assault Trial Begins.
The unusual thing about this latest incident is that the police in Bermuda (where the ship is flagged) actually traveled to South Florida and arrested crew member Abdon, and then flew him to Bermuda to face the charges. Getting the local police from the flag state to arrest crew members on cruise ships around the world is extremely rare.
The trial will begin on March 7, 2011.
I have written many articles about the high crime rates in many of the Caribbean islands frequented by cruise lines - Crime in Caribbean Ports of Call Against Cruise Passengers. Consider the following articles in the last year alone:
Antigua - Cruise Passengers Attacked & Robbed in Antigua While Cruise and Tourism Officials Meet and Passenger From Star Clippers Murdered in Antigua
Bahamas 18 Passengers From Royal Caribbean & Disney Cruise Ships Robbed By Shotgun in the Bahamas, Eleven Cruise Passengers Robbed in Nassau, and Cruising To The Bahamas - Is It Safe?
Guatemala - Norwegian Cruise Line Passenger Murdered in Guatemala
Mexico - Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines Pull Ships From L.A. Due To Crime In Mexico
St. Lucia - Norwegian Cruise Line Drops St. Lucia and 14 Cruise Passengers Robbed at Anse-La-Raye Waterfall in St. Lucia
St. Thomas - More Caribbean Crime - Carnival Passenger Killed In St. Thomas
Cruise lines have port agents in all of these destinations and are familiar with the crime which exists in these beautiful, tropical locations. Do you think that cruise lines should warn passengers of the substantial dangers which exist in the ports they select to disembark their passengers?
A 72 year old from Pennslyvania who cruised on the Liberty of the Seas cruise ship last December remains in jail while awaiting trial on allegations that he traveled to Florida to molest boys on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
Sherwood Stevenson has been held in jail since his arrest in June on a charge of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. The sexual abuse took place in Royal Caribbean's H20 Water 
Park, photo left (taken by Jim Walker).
U.S. District Court Judge Gustave Diamond in Pittsburgh presided over a detention hearing and denied a defense request seeking bond.
According to the Pittsburg Tribune-Review, Stevenson admitted to federal agents that he fondled a 6-year-old boy sitting next to him in a whirlpool sauna during the Royal Caribbean cruise.
Sexual abuse of children on cruise ships is a serious issue which the cruise lines don't like to talk about. Here is our blog on this problem which we wrote in June:
Sexual Predator Abuses 6 Year Old Aboard Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas
We have blogged regularly about the danger of children being sexually abused on cruises, particularly aboard Royal Caribbean cruise ships. In our experience, if your child is going to be sexually abused during a cruise - the chances are likely it will occur on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
Here's the latest example:
Last December, Sherwood Stevenson, age 71, of Clinton, Pennsylvania booked a cruise aboard Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas for the purpose of molesting children.
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According to multiple news sources, Stevenson went into the cruise ship's water zone on the Liberty of the Seas in December and fondled a 6-year-old boy. He attempted to fondle a second child in an adjoining Jacuzzi.
At a hearing before a Federal Magistrate in Pennsylvania, a FBI agent testified that Stevenson booked a trip on a Royal Caribbean cruise to "have a sexual encounter with a young boy."
Unlike most predators, he admitted to the sexual crimes on the cruise ship.
Federal prosecutors said that the cruise passenger has a a criminal past with other child sexual abuse charges.
The cruise line was able to keep the incident secret until the hearing today. Unfortunately, cruise lines like Royal Caribbean like to keep these type of crimes away from the public's knowledge.
June 25, 2010 Update:
We received some interesting comments below from two of our readers, pointing out that parents should not permit their children to be in the water zone, or anywhere else on cruise ships, unsupervised. I agree. But the point is that most parents do not understand the number of sexual assaults which occur during cruises, and they are led by cruise lines and travel agents to believe that cruising is safe.
The photograph to the right is from the Royal Caribbean website under "Family Cruising." The photograph is entitled H20 Zone Waterpark Fun! It certainly looks like fun. Lots of kids with no .jpg)
parents in sight. Royal Caribbean goes on to say:
"While the kids are away, having the time of their lives in our Adventure Ocean® youth program, mom and dad can play. Melt your stress away in our VitalitySM Spa, press your luck in Casino Royale®, take a yoga class in the Fitness Center, dance the night away in one of our themed bars, enjoy an intimate dinner together in one of our specialty restaurants, or order complimentary room service until midnight and simply enjoy a little quality time of your own. Go ahead, have the date night you've been wishing for, our Sitters at Sea service will entertain your kids . . ."
The danger as I see it is that responsible parents often get caught up in the excitement of the cruise. They let their guards down. And the cruise lines promote the idea that they will take care of your kids while failing to provide proper warnings of the types of things that we report about on this blog.
For other information about sexual abuse on cruise ships read:
Carnival Cruise Ship Bartender Arrested On Charges Of Raping 14 Year Old Passenger
Update: Sexual Assault Of Children On Cruise Ships
Top Ten Reasons Not To Cruise: No. 1 - Cruise Lines Are A Perfect Place To Sexually Abuse Children
Passenger Indicted for Sexual Abuse of 13 Year Old Girl on Disney Wonder Cruise Ship
Why Cruises are NOT the Best Vacations with Kids
Sexual Assault of Children on Cruise Ships - A Problem the Cruise Community Wants to Forget
Photo of Sherwood Stevenson: KDKA Pittsburg
Photo of H20 Zone Waterpark Royal Caribbean Cruises
Comments:
Carolyn Barkley:
If parents attended to their children most of these examples wouldn't happen. I'm amazed at how many parents allow their children to run in all areas of the ship without guidance. The companies have specific, safe areas for children and the adult pools, hot tubs, elevators, etc. are NOT designated safe areas. Yes, the ship's have cameras but it only take a minute for these sick-o's to strike. When are parents going to take some of the responsibility for the control of their children? Predators are everywhere ~ malls, parks, beaches ~ so why do parents think that when you board a ship anything will be different?
UK Cruises:
Jim, I read your blog regularly with interest. When I first came accross it, I didn't realise the cruise industry would be such a hive of activity for the world of Law! And stories are getting more and more disturbing! I'm afraid I have to agree with Carolyn - parents shouldn't be creating an occassion where their children can fall into these evil hands! When it comes to Royal Caribbean, I hear time and time again client's appreciation of the fact that they can get off in ports of call and leave their children with the minders... Whilst this is perfectly safe, why do parents want to do this. They take a family holiday but can't wait to get shut of their children. An element of laziness comes into it with parents where once they all become familiar with the ship, it feels like a safe enclosed little community and they become complacent with letting their children run round as if in their own home. The 3000 other passengers may share the ship with you, but nobody knows each other from Adam!!! This situation should never have been able to occur. A 6 year old should have been constantly under adult supervision! It isn't just the danger of sexual predators - why was a 6 year old unsupervised in water???
Jim Walker:
Carolyn and U.K. Cruises. I agree with you both. However, the focus should not be on criticizing the parents but to educate the public that it is not safe to leave the kids alone on cruises and you drop your kids off with "certified" counselors at your own risk. Cruise lines like RCCL like to say it's safe, but it's not. I posted an update to explain this further. I do greatly appreciate your comments and good points!
Scare Mom:
Having worked in an area with children that were abused over 20 years ago, I do not let my children leave my sight. Because I do not trust people. Anyway now we are scheduled for a cruise in August, and I wanted to leave my 7 year old in the children area with Supervise workers while we tour an Island, Now I'm scared as hell!
In May, we reported the arrest of a 30 year old bartender who was arrested after sexually assaulting a 14 year old passenger cruising with her parents on Carnival's Freedom cruise ship - Carnival Cruise Ship Bartender Arrested On Charges Of Raping 14 Year Old Passenger.
Today a Federal District Court Judge in Orlando sentenced cruise ship bartender, Hery Krispiyanto.jpg)
, to over three years and to pay about $4,360 in restitution.
The Orlando Sentinel covered the story in an article "Cruise Bartender Sentenced to Prison for Teen's Rape."
The minor girl told investigators that she was alone on the upper deck of the cruise ship when crew member Krispiyanto walked up behind her, grabbed her arm and pulled her into a nearby employee-only room and closed the door. The incident occurred in April 2009 and the girl told her parents in August. Sexual assaults of minors on cruise ships are often not reported right away due to embarrassment.
Sexual assault of children is something the cruise lines like to keep secret. We have discussed other cases before and you can read them about here.
Lucas G. Wickes, age 25, of Rochester New York pleaded guilty in federal court to sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl on January 1, 2007, on board the Disney cruise ship Disney Wonder after it left Port Canaveral for a Caribbean cruise.
The passenger approached the girl when she left a teen club on the cruise ship and ordered her to accompany him. The girl, who said she believed he was a security officer, followed him to the stern .jpg)
of the cruise ship where the adult assaulted her.
We reported on this crime earlier this year - Passenger Indicted for Sexual Abuse of 13 Year Old Girl on Disney Wonder Cruise Ship.
We have written about the sexual assault of children in prior blogs:
Perverts, Child Predators and Cruise Ships
Sexual Assault of Children on Cruise Ships - A Problem the Cruise Community Wants to Forget
Why Cruises are NOT the Best Vacations with Kids
Should Travel Agents Be Liable For Falsely Representing That Cruises Are Safe For Kids?
The FBI is investigating a passenger rape aboard the MS Bahamas Celebration cruise ship which is operated by Celebration Cruise Line from the Port of Palm Beach.
A blog associated with the Palm Beach Post - Jose Mambiet's Page 2 Live - reports that a 52 year old woman was forced to have sex with a man, another passenger, on a ping-pong table on the ship's deck around 4:00 a.m. Monday. The ship's nurse treated the passenger and administered a rape kit.
The article quotes the vice president of the cruise line's marketing, Glenn Ryerson, stating that "It's only a crime if the FBI deems it to be one. At this point its only an alleged rape."
This is one of the more insensitive press statements I have heard from a cruise line over the years.
Unfortunately, the FBI's track record of successfully investigating shipboard rapes is dismal. At a Congressional hearing I attended in 2007, the FBI admitted that its investigations resulted in prosecutions only 7 times out of every 100 sexual assault allegations. And cruise lines often work hard to make certain that no one convicted of a crime on the cruise ships. Consider reading:
Cruise Ships Are A Perfect Place to Commit A Crime, And Get Away With It!
If You Are A Victim On A Cruise Ship, The Cruise Line Will Treat You Like A Criminal
Marketing VP Ryerson is also quoted stating that this is the first criminal allegation on the Bahamas Celebration "since its Palm Beach launch."
That's not saying much - because this cruise ship started sailing out of Palm Beach in mid-March.
The cruise line has a Twitter page @CelebrationBS. It is offering cruises for as little as $199 a day, although there have been consumer complaints. Read Cruise Critic's article about about what are described as marketing scams by the cruise line or an affiliated wholesale company called "Caribbean" Cruise Line.
I wonder if the cruise line has any surveillance cameras on the decks or security guards patrolling at night.
Were you on the cruise or have information about this incident? Please leave a comment below.
Credits: Photo theBahamasWeekly.com
A frequent topic on Cruise Law News is the danger of sexual assault on cruise ships. One of the problems we write about frequently is that the cruise lines do not conduct adequate background checks on their employees. The cruise lines deny this, of course, and claim that they subject their crew members to rigorous pre-employment screening.
Well, Carnival has a lot of explaining to do considering an article published today in the Oakland Tribune entitled "Man Sought Longest on Fremont's "Most Wanted" List Finally Caught."
It turns out that a rape suspect on the "Most Wanted" list of the city of Fremont, California was arrested last week in Mexico aboard a Carnival cruise ship where he worked as the manager of the onboard hair salon. Kaloyan Kaloyanov (photo left), age 36, was a former star athlete from Bulgaria who was wanted by the police for raping a 15 year old child who he coached in gymnastics.
The article indicates that the former international gymnastics star was placed on Fremont's Most Wanted list in 2002 after he abandoned his wife and daughter and fled the country after the girl informed police that Kaloyanov sexually assaulted her.
The article indicates that Kaloyanov competed in the 1997 and 1998 Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships, and he also participated in several events with his wife (photo below).
The article also indicates that the police interviewed Kaloyanov in 2002, and he admitted to "having sex" with the girl. It is less than clear why the police did not arrest him at that time. After the interview, Kaloyanov fled and has been on the run for eight years.
The police finally caught up with him when they Googled his name and they found photographs of 
him in front of a cruise ship. The police then determined that Kaloyanov had worked for Carnival Cruise Lines for four years, as a fitness instructor and the manager of a hair salon on a Carnival ship.
Congratulations to the police in Fremont for arresting the bad guy.
Its a shame that Carnival's "rigorous" pre-employment screening does not even include Googling the applicant's name. The cruise line would have learned that Kaloyanov's photograph is posted on an on line "Most Wanted" criminal database.
Carnival has issued a statement indicating that Kaloyanov, although a Carnival crew member, was actually hired by Steiner which operates the spa on the cruise ship. Carnival also stated that Kaloyanov worked with other cruise lines before ending up on a Carnival cruise ship.
Kaloyanov was working on the Carnival Spendour which was sailing from Long Beach, Caifornia.
This means that the U.S. Customs and Immigration officials in California, who are suppose to check the crew and passenger roster everytime a ship enters a U.S. port, failed to realize that Kaloyanov was a criminal suspect - even though he was on a "Most Wanted" database of a city in California.
August 20, 2010 Update:
According to the Oakland Tribune, Kaloyanov was scheduled to appear before an Alameda County judge today to possibly enter a plea and try to persuade a judge to reduce his bail from $500,000, the amount at which it was set earlier this week when he was formally arraigned on two counts of having sex with a minor.
Story credit: Oakland Tribune / Ben Aguirre Jr. twitter.com/benaguirrejr
Photo one: Fremont "Most Wanted" page
Photo two: San Fransisco Chronicle / Kurt Rogers "Gym-dandies / Sportaerobics champions put Fremont on the map"
A number of articles published this weekend reveal the plight of young women sexually assaulted on foreign flagged cruise ships and cargo vessels.
Yesterday, in Cruise Rape - Is Royal Caribbean Up To Its Old Tricks?, we reported that a South African crew member claims that another crew member raped her on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. The Captain of the cruise ship reportedly dismissed the rape as a "he said, she said" incident, and then sent her back to her home country. If a U.S. crew member or passenger is victimized, the cruise line claims that it reports the crime to the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The FBI has jurisdiction over such incidents. But when a "foreign" crew member is raped, the case can fall into a no man's land.
Most Royal Caribbean cruise ships are flagged in the Bahamas. Royal Caribbean is incorporated in Liberia. No one from these countries has any interest in or inclination of conducting a criminal investigation into the rape of a woman from South Africa. And the country of South Africa has no jurisdiction to board a Bahamian flagged vessel operated by a Liberian corporation.
Today, the Times Live newspaper in South Africa reports that a 19 year old cadet on the Safmarine Kariba cargo vessel was raped by a senior officer. Ms. Akhona Geveza was completing her .jpg)
cadetship to become a navigational officer. After she reported being raped, her lifeless body was found floating in the water off the coast of Croatia. It is unknown whether someone pushed her overboard or she committed suicide.
The terrible ordeal is explained in two articles "Teen's Horror on the High Seas" and "Legal Tangle Over Teen's Death at Sea." The newspaper mentions a number of incidents of sexual assault and harassment of crew members.
The articles explain that what makes the case of Ms. Geveza difficult to investigate is that the ship is registered in Britain, Ms. Geveza is South African, the vessel was in Croatian waters, and the officer who allegedly committed the crime is Ukrainian.
It has been our experience when we represent young women from outside the U.S., that the flag states (Bahamas, Bermuda, Liberia, and Panama) never conduct a criminal investigtion.
A female cadets interviewed in one of the articles is quoted as saying: "We were told that the sea is no man's land and that what happens at sea, stays at sea . . . "
Credits:
Photograph Akhona Geveza - FaceBook
A beauty therapist employed by Royal Caribbean reports that she was raped by another crew member, according to the Times Live newspaper in South Africa.
The crew member, who is known by her first name, "Taryn," states that she was forced to leave the cruise industry after her ordeal aboard a cruise ship owned by Royal Caribbean International.
The newspaper indicates that she was raped by a fellow South African, a fitness instructor, and sent home after reporting the incident.
"I believe they sent me home to hide the case and protect their reputation - they didn't care about my wellbeing . . . the easy part was to get over the physical rape, the hard part was, and still is, trying to convince myself that I did the right thing by reporting the incident, despite being made to feel like I was in the wrong, despite still feeling like no justice was done and despite having no one but my family and friends to support me emotionally."
After she reported the matter, the cruise captain told her: "There are two stories, his and yours, but his sounds more believable, because you had been drinking."
She said she was advised to drop the matter or face an FBI investigation. After she decided to drop the matter, "I was given two hours to pack my bags and say goodbye."
Her case is being handled by another maritime lawyer in Miami who states that " . . . some crew members, especially the captains and other senior officials, have been blackmailing female cadets and crew members to have sex with them or face a miserable life at sea."
The report of the rape is made on the eve of President Obama signing the Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act which will require cruise lines to finally report all crimes which occur on cruise ships in international waters.
We have reported many times about the high rate of rapes on Royal Caribbean cruise ships. In 2006, Royal Caribbean hired a former high ranking FBI official, Gary Bald, to head up what the 
cruise line now calls its "Global Security Department." The question is whether Mr. Bald and his new team of ex-FBI agents are genuinely trying to protect the passengers and crew and help build a case against the rapists which have targeted Royal Caribbean passengers and crew members.
Or is this business as usual, with the cruise line intimidating the victim and the cruise line taking the rapist's side of the story?
You will many similar stories like this coming from a cruise line like Royal Caribbean.
Stay tuned.
Consider some of our other articles:
What To Do If You Are Sexually Harassed or Assaulted on a Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship
Top Ten Reasons Not To Cruise: No. 1 - Cruise Lines Are A Perfect Place To Sexually Abuse Children
We have blogged regularly about the danger of children being sexually abused on cruises, particularly aboard Royal Caribbean cruise ships. In our experience, if your child is going to be sexually abused during a cruise - the chances are likely it will occur on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
Here's the latest example.
Last December, Sherwood Stevenson, age 71, of Clinton, Pennsylvania booked a cruise aboard Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas for the purpose of molesting children.
According to multiple news sources, Stevenson went into the cruise ship's water zone on the Liberty of the Seas in December and fondled a 6-year-old boy. He attempted to fondle a second child in an adjoining Jacuzzi.
At a hearing before a Federal Magistrate in Pennsylvania, a FBI agent testified that Stevenson booked a trip on a Royal Caribbean cruise to "have a sexual encounter with a young boy."
Unlike most predators, he admitted to the sexual crimes on the cruise ship.
Federal prosecutors said that the cruise passenger has a a criminal past with other child sexual abuse charges.
The cruise line was able to keep the incident secret until the hearing today. Unfortunately, cruise lines like Royal Caribbean like to keep these type of crimes away from the public's knowledge.
June 25, 2010 Update:
We received some interesting comments below from two of our readers, pointing out that parents should not permit their children to be in the water zone, or anywhere else on cruise ships, unsupervised. I agree. But the point is that most parents do not understand the number of sexual assaults which occur during cruises, and they are led by cruise lines and travel agents to believe that cruising is safe.
The photograph to the right is from the Royal Caribbean website under "Family Cruising." The photograph is entitled H20 Zone Waterpark Fun! It certainly looks like fun. Lots of kids with no parents in sight. Royal Caribbean goes on to say:
"While the kids are away, having the time of their lives in our Adventure Ocean® youth program, mom and dad can play. Melt your stress away in our VitalitySM Spa, press your luck in Casino Royale®, take a yoga class in the Fitness Center, dance the night away in one of our themed bars, enjoy an intimate dinner together in one of our specialty restaurants, or order complimentary room service until midnight and simply enjoy a little quality time of your own. Go ahead, have the date night you've been wishing for, our Sitters at Sea service will entertain your kids . . ."
The danger as I see it is that responsible parents often get caught up in the excitement of the cruise. They let their guards down. And the cruise lines promote the idea that they will take care of your kids while failing to provide proper warnings of the types of things that we report about on this blog.
For other information about sexual abuse on cruise ships read:
Carnival Cruise Ship Bartender Arrested On Charges Of Raping 14 Year Old Passenger
Update: Sexual Assault Of Children On Cruise Ships
Top Ten Reasons Not To Cruise: No. 1 - Cruise Lines Are A Perfect Place To Sexually Abuse Children
Passenger Indicted for Sexual Abuse of 13 Year Old Girl on Disney Wonder Cruise Ship
Why Cruises are NOT the Best Vacations with Kids
Sexual Assault of Children on Cruise Ships - A Problem the Cruise Community Wants to Forget
Photo of Sherwood Stevenson: KDKA Pittsburg
Photo of H20 Zone Waterpark Royal Caribbean Cruises
TIME Magazine just published an article entitled Cruise Ship Port Call: Gauging Crime on the Bahamas.
Time addresses the November 2009 armed robbery of cruise ship passengers during Segway shore excursions in Nassau, Bahamas. Cruise Law News was the first one in the U.S. to report on the robbery in our article - 18 Passengers From Royal Caribbean & Disney Cruise Ships Robbed By Shotgun in the Bahamas.
TIME comments that "none of the passengers were injured, and all were compensated by the cruise lines." Unfortunately, this is not true. Several of the passengers were physically injured, being hit and kicked, and one of the robbers discharged his shotgun hear the head of a woman lying in the ground. Many on the tour were emotionally traumatized. No Royal Caribbean passengers were compensated for their injuries.
Aside from this inaccuracy, the article correctly concludes that crime is on the rise in the Bahamas and explains that tourists are now being targeted.
The Bahamian government sent TIME statistics detailing crime against tourists in 2009, showing only one murder and 19 cases of armed robbery — 18 of which came in the single November Segway excursion robbery. This statistics are incomplete.
The Bahamas did not tell TIME about another crime spree we wrote about - Eleven Cruise Passengers Robbed in Nassau. We have also represented women raped in Nassau and are aware of other tourists robbed in Nassau.
Crime during cruises is an issue which neither the cruise lines nor the tourist dependent Caribbean islands like to discuss. It's disappointing see the Bahamas tourism officials covering up the facts like this.
The Tourism Minister in the Bahamas recently took cruise line officials on a tour of the country to show that there are increased police patrols and closed circuit television cameras have been installed in areas of downtown Nassau. The Nassau Guardian explains that tourism officials are trying to reassure the cruise line that it's sate to bring their guests to Nassau.
TIME also mentions to "steer clear of Jamaica. Experts agree that it's currently the most dangerous country in the Caribbean."
For other stories about crime in the Caribbean, read:
Cruising To The Bahamas - Is It Safe?
Nassau Welcomes Oasis of the Seas as Bahamas' Murder Count Reaches Record-Breaking Level
Crime in Caribbean Ports of Call Against Cruise Passengers
Bahamas Cruise Crime Nightmare Continues
Travel Writers and the Ethics of Reporting Cruise News
14 Cruise Passengers Robbed at Anse-La-Raye Waterfall in St. Lucia
Norwegian Cruise Line Passenger Murdered in Guatemala
Credits:
Newspaper article bahamasuncensored.com
The Orlando Sentinel reports today that a thirty year old Carnival crew member will be arraigned this week on allegations that he raped a 14 year old passenger aboard a Carnival's cruise ship.
Hery Krispiyanto, age 30, from Klitren, Yogykarta (Indonesia) worked aboard Carnival's Freedom as a bartender. A photograph from his Friendster page is below.
The newspaper reports that the 14-year-old girl was vacationing with her parents during the Carnival cruise which left Fort Lauderdale in April 2009. During the cruise, the minor and her parents became acquainted with Krispiyanto. When the minor was alone on the upper deck of the ship one night, Krispiyanto walked up behind her, grabbed her arm and pulled her into a nearby employee-only room and closed the door, court records indicate.
Krispiyanto began to touch the minor inappropriately, and she repeatedly told him to stop. The minor said she tried to fight him, but Krispiyanto raped her, according to the criminal complaint lodged against the crew member.
The minor reported the incident to her mother in August, and it was then reported to the FBI. A FBI agent interviewed Krispiyanto in April of this year and arrested him earlier this month.
According to court records, when an FBI agent questioned Krispiyanto in April, he first denied the incident. But after a polygraph exam indicated Krispiyanto was being deceptive, he confessed to having sex with the minor in a pantry area on the cruise ship. Krispiyanto is being held at the 
Seminole County Jail.
June 1 Update:
The arrest of the Carnival crew member is now receiving wide media coverage. The Palm Beach Post contains a story today "Carnival Cruise Ship Bartender Accused of Raping Girl, 14, During Cruise With Her Parents." The Post's article contains what appears to be a mug shot of Krispiyanto (right),
We have written many articles about the problem of crew members preying on children on cruise ships:
Sexual Assault of Children on Cruise Ships - A Problem the Cruise Community Wants to Forget
Why Cruises are NOT the Best Vacations with Kids
Should Travel Agents Be Liable For Falsely Representing That Cruises Are Safe For Kids?
Passenger Indicted for Sexual Abuse of 13 Year Old Girl on Disney Wonder Cruise Ship
Top Ten Reasons Not To Cruise: No. 1 - Cruise Lines Are A Perfect Place To Sexually Abuse Children
Credits:
Photograph top Hery Krispiyanto's Friendster page
Photograph bottom Seminole Co. Sheriff's Office (via Palm Beach Post)
This is reason no. 4 in the series:Top 10 Reasons Not To Cruise
The primary reason our law firm is in business is because cruise lines mistreat cruise passengers after they have been seriously injured or victimized aboard a cruise ship.
Over 99% of our clients have never filed a lawsuit before, and probably over 50% of our clients don't like lawyers. Most people who have been injured during a cruise are looking for a friendly face on the cruise ship to talk to and discuss a solution to their predicament. The last thing a family from the middle-of-America who goes on a cruise wants to do is hire a lawyer in Miami to file a lawsuit for them. Only frustration and a lack of respect by the cruise line motivates hard-working-Americans far away from Miami to pick up the telephone and call me.
But we are contacted every day - every single day - by cruise passengers who have been seriously injured during cruises or who have been sexually assaulted. The one thing we hear time and time again is - "I can't believe that they treated me this way after I reported what happened!"
It is bad enough when a passenger is seriously injured and the cruise line treats them like dirt. We have seen this time after time. The cruise line refuses to release the passenger's medical .jpg)
records, or takes away their wheelchair or crutches at the gangway and tells them to hobble down to the terminal. Inevitably, once the injured passenger leaves the cruise ship, no one from the cruise line calls them to see how their ankle or hip surgery turned out. And if they do, the best you can expect for even the most serious case is an offer of a discount on a future cruise.
Once you file suit, prepare for the cruise line to attack you. The best example I can give you is a cruise line case highlighted in an article appearing in the National Law Journal entitled "Defense Team Found the Needle in the Haystack."
The article explains that eight elderly cruise passengers from Cunard's Queen Mary 2 visiting Tortola were seriously injured when the brakes of the excursion truck failed, causing the vehicle to crash in the side of a mountain.
Although the article explains that "odds were overwhelmingly against" the cruise line at the beginning, the cruise line defense lawyer successfully defended the case. The cruise line lawyer explained his strategy, saying "there's a saying that pigs get slaughtered * . . . If you make them look like they're greedy . . . that usually has an impact. So we tried to paint them as greedy, exaggerating, malingering." The tactic worked, as the jury decided against all of the cruise passengers and the cruise line won the case.
Its even worse when a passenger is a victim of a crime.
Once a passenger reports a crime, the cruise line's officers contacts the cruise line's corporate offices, usually in Miami, and then the cruise line's risk management and legal department go into overdrive. Incriminating evidence is not collected. The security officers on the cruise begin taking statements designed to protect the assailant crew member's legal interests and the cruise line's .jpg)
reputation. Everyone on the cruise ship begins to work against the victim, to look for ways to make certain that the victim's case never sees the light of day.
It is a dirty business. Cruise lines thrive on it.
When a victim files suit, it gets worse. Crime victims are treated like the injured, elderly Cunard passengers who the cruise line painted as "greedy pigs." One cruise line defense firm deposes victims in a large conference room in the entrance of the firm (photo left), filled with cruise ship models, with floor to ceiling glass walls but no curtains or blinds - while lawyers, paralegals, and secretaries walk by the conference room all day long, gawking inside.
Can you imagine if you were a rape victim forced to testify in the middle of such a glass bowl?
Yes, its rude, abusive, and demeaning. I would be embarrassed if a lawyer at my firm acted like this. But its exactly what the cruise lines want and expect.
The cruise lines treat their guests, once they are victimized, like criminals.
And cruise lines wonder why they have such bad reputations.
* Actually, the saying is "pigs get fed, but hogs get slaughtered . . ."
Tomorrow, we will discuss Reason No. 5 Not To Cruise: If You Are Retired Or A Child, The Cruise Line Considers Your Life Worthless
Credits:
Photograph Maltzman Foreman P.A.
St. Lucia News On Line reports that Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) dropped St. Lucia from its 2010-2012 schedule.
The article states that NCL abandoned St. Lucia because of attacks on cruise passengers which occurred on three occasions while the cruise passengers were sight-seeing on the island.
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It's about time.
Last December, we reported on out-of-control crime in St. Lucia, and the cruise line's failure to warn passengers:
14 Cruise Passengers Robbed at Anse-La-Raye Waterfall in St. Lucia
Crime in Caribbean Ports of Call Against Cruise Passengers
Most U.S. passengers do not understand the high rate of crimes against Americans in Caribbean countries like St. Lucia, Jamaica, Antigua and the Bahamas.
Cruise lines face legal liability when they take passengers into dangerous locations and fail to warn them of crime, particularly during cruise sponsored excursions.
Yesterday, U.S. Customs and Border Protective Services arrested a rape suspect who had flown to Miami to go on a Carnival cruise aboard the Destiny.
The Georgetown Times newspaper reports that 32-year-old Tyrone Green has been on the run for two years after he allegedly brutally attacked and raped a 77-year-old woman in her home in South Carolina during the week of Christmas 2007. But his freedom came to an end Monday when he tried to board a cruise ship in Miami yesterday.
Green was recently placed into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) computers after evidence matched him to the scene of the Dec. 22, 2007 attack. When the Customs agents checked Green’s name in the NCIC database, they realized that he was wanted in Georgetown for the rape.
The case is reminiscent of the arrest of another passenger who was arrested in Tampa earlier this year.
Steven Mark Anthony Requena, 28, was arrested while on the Carnival Cruise Ship "Inspiration" at the Port of Tampa.
His name was flagged by a sweep of the manifest of passengers by Homeland Security officials who determined that the passenger was wanted for sexual assault in addition to assault with a weapon and forcible confinement.
Unlike Mr. Green who was nabbed before he boarded the Carnival cruise ship, Requena was arrested after he cruised for a week. The U.S. Marshals arrested him only after the cruise ship returned to port.
What was interesting about the Requena arrest was that the U.S. Marshall's office brought a photographer and videographer and filmed the rape suspect as he was forced to make a "perp walk" down the crew gangway and along side the ship. The Tampa Tribune then blasted a headline "Breaking News: Marshals Arrest Rape Suspect at Tampa Cruise Terminal," complete with photos of the arrest.
What a production! Hey, don't get me wrong - our U.S. Marshals deserve the recognition!
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But the problem remains that arrests of rape suspects are rare on cruise ships. You will never see a photograph or video of a cruise line employee who is accused of raping a passenger making a "perp walk."
The cruise lines would never let that happen.
Our government does a pretty good job of arresting U.S. citizens trying to board cruise ships who are accused of raping a victim ashore, but a terrible job arresting rapists who attack victims on cruise ships.
Credits:
Tyronne Green Georgetown Times newspaper, Georgetown South Carolina
Steven Mark Anthony Requena United States Marshal's Office
Last night, a member of the one of the leading online cruise communities - CruiseCritic - contacted me about a cruise line passenger who had been harassed and battered by a cabin attendant in .jpg)
her cabin. This was far from a rape, but it certainly sounds like something other than a "cultural misunderstanding."
Some of the CruiseCritic members supported the passenger and made some generally okay suggestions like call the cruise line and tell them what happened. But it was obvious that everyone online was basically just shooting in the dark. Unfortunately, some of the members mocked her story.
Now a little background information may be in order.
No Pre-Employment Screening and the Cruise Lines Sweep Bad Conduct Under the Rug
I have represented over 60 women and children raped or sexually molested on cruise ships over the past ten years. I have also represented six women who have appeared before Congress during hearings on crimes and unsafe conditions on cruise ships. I am not talking about "harassment" but conduct which is criminal in nature and should land the perpetrator in jail for a long time. When we sue the cruise line and obtain the cruise line perpetrator's employment files and conduct an investigation, we often find that there is virtually no pre-employment investigation before hiring crew members. Plus, we discover that after joining the cruise line, some of the crew members engage in what the cruise lines characterize as "minor" problems such as sexual comments or "inappropriate touching" by the crew member. These early warning signs are sometimes ignored or swept under the rug.
Profile of the Who, When and Where a Cruise Line Predator Strikes
In our experience, the crew member most likely to harass or assault a passenger is a male cabin attendant in his late 20's or early 30's. And the cruise line where you are most likely to be harassed or assaulted? Without question, in our experience, Royal Caribbean. By far. And the most likely time to be "hit upon?" The last night of the cruise.
So it was disturbing to hear that that the incident involving the CruiseCritic passenger involved - you guessed it - a cabin attendant on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship on the last night of the cruise. Here is a portion of the passenger's account posted on CruiseCritic:
The Passenger's Account - Still Coming to Grips with What Happened
"My room steward came up behind my chair on our balcony and proceeded to put his hands on my shoulders, that's ok but when he ran them down the front of me, well that was not ok. I tried to not let it upset me, but I am still really bothered by this. We were 2 women traveling alone. I am in my late forties and very comfortable traveling solo. Unfortunately this really made me start to think, How safe is it really? I didn't want to make a complaint because it was our last night on the cruise . . . I know i will probably get the people telling me to get over it and that it is no big deal, and that is how I tried to look at it, But how safe is it for other women traveling alone with that steward . . .
He was a big man and i was a little unnerved by his size. I just stopped his hands and didn't say anything. I know I am stupid for not reporting right away, but i just wasn't sure what to do. I had another incident occur on a Royal ship years ago with my then 11 year old son, where a fellow passenger hauled off and cold cocked him while he was at the kids club. The security really didn't do much about it, told his parents and told them to stay close to their son for the trip, but he was still allowed in the kids club and left unsupervised on the ship. Needless to say my son had a black eye throughout our vacation and the fact that security just didn't make sure that this other kid was allowed where my son was, was even more upsetting. Maybe that is why I didn't report him at the time for fear of security not really doing much . . ."
This Is a Crime on Miami Beach - But Business As Usual on Cruise Ships
If this happened in a club at South Beach, the bouncers would haul Mr. "Happy-Hands" outside and he would find himself face down on the sidewalk only to be hand-cuffed and hauled off in a squad car and end up being finger printed at the cop shop on Washington Avenue. But on a cruise ship, its another matter. You are in the middle of the ocean with no police within a thousand miles. A crew member is between you and your cabin door. The balcony is behind you. Women have disappeared on cruise ships.
In September 2007, one of our clients was featured in a Congressional hearing. Her Royal Caribbean cabin attendant was very attentive, too attentive. This led to increasing aggressive behavior of "inappropriate talk" - to casual touching - to offers of champagne - to using his key card to enter her cabin at night while she slept in her bed - to raping her.
Royal Caribbean Knows They Have a Problem . . .
In another one of our court cases, we obtained an excel spreadsheet from Royal Caribbean (only after the Court threatened Royal Caribbean with a fine of $1,000 a day if it did not comply) listing the number of incidents of sexual assault and harassment on its cruise ships for a period a little longer than two and one-half years. I know the data was incomplete, but it indicated that over 250 women were sexually harassed, assaulted or battered. This reflects a real problem throughout the Royal Caribbean fleet. A large number of the incidents occurred in the passenger cabins.
. . . But Royal Caribbean Keeps the Passengers in the Dark
It is therefore additionally disturbing at this late date to think that a woman on a Royal Caribbean ship could be sexually harassed and battered (yes - a non-consensual, offensive touching is a criminal offense!) and yet the cruise line would have no published protocols to explain to the guest what to do and she would have to resort to a public plea for assistance. It is equally discouraging that a large and well established cruise community like, CruiseCritic, would not have an online resource for its members to refer to to understand what steps they should take.
Recently, a bill was introduced before Congress (HR 3360) which will require cruise lines to provide contact information for assault crisis centers. But the Senate has not voted on the bill yet. As matters now stand, cruise lines continue to keep the passengers in the dark regarding what to so or who to contact in circumstances like this.
A Few Suggestions
So here are some suggestions when you are sexually harassed or, as some people understate, "inappropriately touched" on a Royal Caribbean cruise:
Head directly to the Purser's Desk. Request to see the Security Officer, the Head Purser, the Staff Captain, and the Hotel Director. Ask for their names and write them down. Give your name, cabin number, name of the crew member if known, and a short statement of what happened. Request that the cabin attendant be removed from his responsibility for your cabin. Demand that the cabin attendant's key card be taken away from him. Before you return the statement, ask for a copy. Request the full name and employee number of the crew member. Ask for the email and telephone of the head of security for Royal Caribbean in its corporate headquarters and one of cruise line's in-house lawyers in Miami. Ask for a telephone number or email to contact these individuals in Miami before you leave the cruise ship.
Who to Contact After You Leave the Cruise Ship
If you leave the ship without making a complaint (about 40% of women are too upset, traumatized, or disoriented to report the incident on the cruise ship so don't beat yourself up) don't waste your time calling the cruise line. You will be directed to a low level representative in the customer care department - the same people who take calls regarding lost luggage, or handle silly complaints about bad food or poor service. You will be ignored or they will eventually call you back and offer you a 25% discount on your next cruise. You will feel worse after dealing with these knuckleheads. You need to document what happened and demand that action be taken by the top security and executive leaders.
Empower yourself! Take control of the situation.
Send a letter to the President (Adam Goldstein) and CEO (Richard Fain) of Royal Caribbean at 1050 South Caribbean Way, Miami FL and send an email copy to the head of Royal Caribbean's security department Gary Bald (GBald@rccl.com) and one of the top lawyers at Royal Caribbean such as Tony Faso (TFaso@rccl.com). Don't let them interrogate you without a lawyer being present. Ask them to notify law enforcement and provide you with the telephone number and address of the FBI. Look up the FBI office closest to you and call and write them a letter.
Keep your letter or email to the executives and the lawyer short and to the point. And make certain that you write: "Submitted without prejudice. Not to be used against me in a civil or criminal proceeding."
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Follow up in writing and by email. Don't let it drop until you are satisfied.
Royal Caribbean claims that it has a "zero tolerance" program against sexual harassment. The crew members are instructed never to touch a passenger. This particular crew member and his wandering hands should be terminated. Otherwise, he will become emboldened and his conduct will become more aggressive.
Think of the Next Passenger Who Will Climb Aboard the Same Cruise Ship and Meet Your Cabin Attendant
Remember - the male cabin attendant who sexually harasses you and touches you "inappropriately" is the one most likely to use his pass key and enter a woman's cabin at night.
Think of the next passenger who may be traveling alone on the next Royal Caribbean cruise or the child left alone in her parent's cabin when this cabin attendant enters under the guise of cleaning the cabin or making the bed.
If the incident involves a rape, then call the Purser's desk and ask for the Security Officer to come immediately to your cabin. Ask for medical treatment and request the Security Officer to lock and seal your cabin. Ask for a telephone number for the FBI and a national rape crisis center such as the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN).
The House of Representatives passed the Cruise Vessel Security & Safety Act (HR 3360) today. This cruise bill was previously part of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2009, but was voted on today as a 'stand alone" bill to speed up its enactment.
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Congress approved the bill by a resounding vote of 416 to 4.
A number of "All Star" Congressmen and Congresswomen spoke at the hearing today. Here are the highlights of this historic event:
Cruise Ships - "Floating Pieces of Other Countries" - and the Need for U.S. Laws to Protect Americans
Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) explained the problem of a lack of accountability of the foreign flagged cruise ships which become "floating pieces of other countries" once the ships are outside of U.S. waters. He recognized the need for cruise lines to adopt reasonable safety measures to protect U.S. passengers. Some of the measures are simple and a matter of common sense, such as the .jpg)
requirement that all doors be fitted with peepholes so that passengers inside cabins can determine who is outside of their doors. Congress was previously provided with testimony of passengers who opened their doors and were raped by crew members.
Other safeguards include the requirements that cruise ships maintain supplies of anti-retroviral medications for rape victims (to prevent HIV / AIDS) and employ trained personnel to collect and preserve evidence following sexual assault. Cruise lines are also required to report sexual assaults and other crimes to the F.B.I. and U.S. Coast Guard and maintain a link to this data base on the cruise lines' websites. This last measure is important because cruise lines have a well deserved reputation for concealing cruise crimes from the public.
A Cruise Victim's "Courage, Conviction & Dedication"
Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA), who introduced the crime bill, thanked her constituent (and our client) Laurie Dishman for her "courage, conviction, and dedication" after she was raped aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. Ms. Matsui explained that after the crime, the cruise line provided no assistance whatsoever to Ms. Dishman in securing the crime scene, or .jpg)
identifying the attacker, or in prosecuting the crime. The ship doctor gave Ms. Dishman a trash bag and told her to return to the crime scene and collect the evidence herself. Congresswoman Matui characterized the need for the cruise crime bill as "urgent and necessary."
Cruise Line "Outrageous Conduct and Callous Disregard"
Congressman John Shadegg (R-AZ) spoke of the "terrible story" of Merrian Carver who disappeared on a Celebrity cruise ship. Although this is any parent's worst nightmare, Celebrity's parent company Royal Caribbean tried to cover the disappearance up and then labeled it as a "suicide." (We have commented on the cruise industry's nasty habit of claiming all "disappearances" are "suicides" in a prior blog "Suicide" - One of the Cruise Lines' Favorite Excuses When a Passenger Disappears at Sea)
Congressman Shadegg described Royal Caribbean's conduct of obstructing the efforts of Ms. Carver's parents to find out what happened to their daughter as "outrageous" and exhibiting "callous disregard." He urged the adoption of the cruise law to protect other families who lose loved ones on the high seas. A video of Mr. Shadegg is below.
"Disturbing & Startling" Large Number of Cruise Ship Crimes
Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX) criticized the cruise industry for concealing the large number of shipboard rapes. He mentioned a "disturbing and startling" article in the LA Times ("Cruise Industry's Dark Waters") which revealed that in a period of only 32 months Royal 
Caribbean had over 250 incidents of where cruise victims were sexually assaulted, battered or sexually harassed. (Our firm handled the case where a Court in Miami ordered the cruise line to reveal this information under a threatened sanction of $1,000 a day).
Congressman Poe discussed Ms. Dishman's case where Royal Caribbean did nothing to assist her but sent her a letter after the rape thanking her for her business and enclosing a discount coupon for a future cruise! He recognized Ms. Dishman for exposing the "atrocities" on this cruise line's fleet of cruise ships.
Cruise Ship "Culture of Indifference" Toward Victims
Congressman James Oberstar, the Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, also thanked Ms. Dishman who overcame her "terrible experience" with Royal Caribbean, found the "courage to testify" before Congress regarding her ordeal, and was "determined to see justice done." He praised her for working to change "the culture aboard cruise ships of indifference" toward crime 
victims.
On to the Senate!
The next step toward protecting the cruising public is a vote in the Senate.
Great thanks for the tireless dedication of the International Cruise Victims ("ICV") organization for supporting the introduction of this cruise safety bill!
Want to get involved in the ICV? Contact the ICV's President Ken Carver kcarver17@cox.net.
We have ordered the C-SPAN coverage of the hearing today and will be posting the ventire ideo in the next week. Below is the video of Congressman Shadegg's comments regarding the daughter of one his constituients, Ken Carver:
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Most passengers don't realize the danger which women and children face on cruise ships. For example, who would think that they are at risk of being raped on the cruise line featured in the popular television series the "Love Boat?"
The "Love Boat" - Carefree, Romantic Cruises
Princess Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Santa Clarita, California. It is perhaps most famous for the Pacific Princess which served as the cruise ship for the "Love Boat." It now operates thirteen large cruise ships: Caribbean Princess, Coral Princess, Crown Princess, Dawn Princess, Diamond Princess, Emerald Princess, Golden Princess, Island Princess, Ruby Princess, Sapphire Princess, Sea Princess, Star Princess, and Sun Princess - as well as four smaller cruise ships, Ocean Princess, Pacific Princess, Royal Princess, and Tahitian Princess. Princess markets an illusion of carefree honeymoon vacations and luxurious romantic getaways.
Rapes and Molestation on the "Love Boat?"
But notwithstanding its idyllic image, crew members have drugged and raped women during cruises on the "Love Boat" fleet. Anguished parents have also reported their children being sexually assaulted and molested during cruises with Princess.
The most publicized sexual assault this year involved Jorge Manuel Teixeira, a head waiter aboard Princess Cruises' Coral Princess. According to the FBI, the Princess crew member invited a 42-year-old passenger to share a bottle of wine and then attacked her. He was charged with a federal count of aggravated sexual assault. The 17-page FBI affidavit that describes the crime and a 100-page transcript of the crew member's interview with two FBI agents are available on line.
Sexual Crimes on Cruise Ships are Rarely Prosecuted
What is remarkable about this particular crime is not that it occurred, but that the FBI actually arrested the crew member and he is awaiting trial. Most crimes on foreign flagged cruise ships involve foreign crew members and do not result in arrests. Although Princess is headquartered in California and has a base of operations in Los Angeles, Seattle, and South Florida, it tries to use the fact that it registered its business in Bermuda (to avoid U.S. taxes) to also avoid culpability. Trust me, the country of Bermuda is not going to send a team of investigators to a Princess cruise ship sailing to Alaska and conduct an investigation that leads to an arrest of a Princess Cruises crew member.
There have been a number of sexual assaults against women and children on the Princess cruise ships over the years. These crimes continue to this day. I recently had to fly from Miami to Seattle to a Princess cruise ship after a Princess crew member had been drugged and raped on the cruise ship. I have also discussed in other articles the problem with sexual assaults on the Princess sister company P & O Cruises, which like Princess Cruises, is wholly owned by cruise giant Carnival Corporation.
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Foreseeability of Sexual Assaults on Cruise Ships?
A number of rapes over the last year or two have not yet been reported by the press. However, there are cases readily available on line. For example, in the case of D.C. v. Princess Cruise Lines, filed in California, a 15-year boy traveling with his family reported that he had been sexually assaulted in the sauna on the cruise ship.
Princess Cruises claimed that it was not "foreseeable" that a passenger could be sexually assaulted during a cruise. Princess made this claim notwithstanding the hundreds of rapes and molestations which the cruise line industry was required to report to Congress during cruise crime hearings.
Princess Cruises - a Problem Dating Back to 1993
The child's attorney introduced evidence that Princess knew that there had been a history of prior crimes. The in-house lawyer for the cruise line, Mona Ehrenreich, admitted in deposition testimony that there were seven incidents of sexual assault alone from the time she joined the cruise line until year 2002. One incident involved an assault by a crew member against a minor in a cabin.
In addition, the case contains fascinating testimony by Charles Harris, who was employed as the Senior Chief Security Officer of Carnival Cruise lines between 1991 and 1994.
Princess Cruises' Parent Company - Carnival - A Prevalence of Sex Crimes During Cruises
Officer Harris indicated that the problem of sexual assault on ships was "well known" and "well documented" and he was aware of the "prevalence" of sexual assaults and rapes on cruise ships. While retained in a case against Carnival, he learned that Carnival had had over 100 reported cases of sexual assault and rape on its ships. FBI agents in Miami reportedly are called to investigate a shipboard sexual assault case "about every other week."
A Lack of Transparency
One of the problems with cruise lines is they lack transparency. For example, last year I attended a hearing before the U.S. Senate regarding cruise ship crimes. This hearing was just one of the five Congressional hearings I have attended in the last four years regarding the problem with sexual assaults. The cruise industry's chronic under-reporting of rapes has always been a hot topic with Congressional leaders.
One of the speakers at the hearing was Evelyn Fortier, the former vice president of the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network. She informed the Senate sub-committee that there are three explanations for cruise line's refusal to accurately report shipboard rapes: (1) cruise ships were not required to report crimes on cruise ships and there was no way to assess whether the ships fully and accurately reported sexual assaults on their vessels; (2) sexual assaults, whether on land or sea, are historically under-reported; and (3) cruise lines conceal, under-report or misclassify sexual assaults out of fear that the bad press will cause them to lose customers.
Added to this list should also be that the cruise lines like Princess try to avoid legal liability for the crimes their crew members commit. Concealing or mischaracterizing rapes is one way the cruise lines try and protect their legal interests.
These issues were discussed in an interesting article entitled: "Sexual Assaults on Cruise Liners May Be More Frequent Than Previously Reported" in SecurityManagement.com.
"Love Boat" Crime Statistics
Like other cruise lines, Princess Cruises has a problem with sexual assaults on its cruise ships. And like other lines, it pretends it doesn't have a problem. Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2009 which requires cruise lines to report all crimes to the U.S. Coast Guard and the FBI. Now it will be interesting to see just how much crime really occurs aboard the "Love Boat."
Photo credits:
"Love Boat" Amazon.com The "Love Boat" Season 1, Volume 1
Ruby Princess Rezsox's Flickr Photostream
Coral Princess Brad Graverson / Staff Photographer of the DailyBreeze.com
Star Princess Jim Walker, Seattle WA July 4, 2009
Today, the House of Representatives passed the Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act of 2009. This is a remarkable event. For the first time in the history of the cruise industry, cruise lines are now required to report crimes which occur on cruise ships to the U.S. Coast Guard and the FBI. There has been an epidemic of rapes on cruise ships over the years, and the cruise industry is notorious for its lack of transparency and its cover up of such crimes.
This is quite a milestone. No one in South Florida has the courage to take on the cruise industry and enact legislation like this. Victims had to look 3,000 miles away from Miami - the Cruise Capital of the World - to a leader in Sacramento, California to get the job done.
Thank You Congresswoman Matsui and the International Cruise Victims Association
The bill is the result of the hard work of the International Cruise Victims ("ICV") association, led by .jpg)
Ken Carver whose daughter Merrian disappeared on a cruise ship operated by Celebrity Cruises, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises. The legislation was introduced by California Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA) whose constituent, Ms. Laurie Dishman was sexually assaulted on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. Ms. Dishman is a client and good friend of the firm. She has worked tirelessly with the other ICV members to make sure that legislation like this is enacted to protect the traveling public.
The new cruise law also requires that rape victims on cruise ships be promptly given anti-retroviral medications in order to prevent the victims from developing HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Our firm is representing a woman who was recently raped on a Princess Cruises ship. The ship doctor and the Princess Cruises fleet medical department refused to provide the victim with such medications. The cruise line's recklessness needlessly endangered the young woman's health and life. Now, there will be culpability when cruise lines act irresponsibly following a cruise ship crime.
The ICV issued a press release today:
Press Release of the International Cruise Victims
The International Cruise Victims Association (ICV) applauds House passage today of critical language authored by Congresswoman Doris O. Matsui (D-CA) ensuring the safety of cruise ship passengers on the high seas. Matsui’s Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act of 2009, included in H.R. 3619, the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2010, requires cruise lines to report all crimes aboard cruise ships to both the United States Coast Guard and the FBI. The first measure of its kind, this legislation represents a historic step toward securing the safety all passengers need and deserve.
“I recognize today as a milestone in our fight for justice,” said Congresswoman Matsui. “I originally became involved in this issue because of a young woman, Laurie Dishman, from my hometown of Sacramento. Laurie was sexually assaulted while on a cruise ship, and was left to fend for herself. 
My legislation will not only help protect and empower future victims, but it contains important reforms that will help change the culture of the cruise industry and prevent future attacks from happening.”
ICV has been advocating for these measures to be adopted since 2006, participating in countless meetings with members of Congress, and three Congressional hearings. The hearings were held at the urging of Rep. Matsui, with the support of Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-MN) and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Elijah Cummings (D-MD). Senator John Kerry (D-MA) introduced corresponding legislation in the U.S. Senate, which also held hearings, and the bill was passed unanimously out of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Now that the bill has passed the House, the bill will need to pass the full Senate before being sent to the President to be signed into law.
As this crucial legislation moves forward, it serves as a sign to many among the ICV’s community of followers that progress is being made toward ensuring the safety of Americans abroad. The measure approved today is a major victory in the fight for cruise passengers’ rights. ICV President Kendall Carver expressed his hopeful outlook as the legislation has been approved by committee in the Senate. “Adoption of this bill would be proof to the world that our small group of volunteers with limited funds has been able to make a difference in the safety of Americans. When the Cruise Safety legislation is signed into law, it will serve to protect Americans across the nation during what ought to be relaxing vacations.”
“Congresswoman Matsui has taken the lead in the House on this issue, and her efforts have made the difference in moving this legislation forward,” Carver continued. “Her efforts are appreciated by myself and all other victims and their families that are members of International Cruise Victims Association. Without Ms. Matsui’s efforts in the House and Sen. Kerry's efforts in the U.S. Senate this legislation would have not moved forward and we are forever indebted to both of them. I look forward to the upcoming Senate floor vote and the President’s signature as soon as humanly possible.”
Currently, cruise ships operating under foreign flags of convenience are not required under U.S. law to report crimes occurring outside of U.S. territorial waters. Legislation approved today will ensure that crimes committed while aboard cruise ships do not escape the jurisdiction of 
American law enforcement. Title IX requires cruise ships to comply with design and construction standards, such as specific rail heights, peep holes, warning devices and cabin security measures. The bill also requires that vessels are equipped with a video surveillance system to assist in documenting and prosecuting crimes, and it requires vessels to maintain a log book to record reports on specified complaints. Finally, once enacted, vessels will be required to contact the nearest FBI office as soon as possible to report incidents involving homicide, suspicious deaths, missing U.S. nationals, kidnapping, assault, and other serious occurrences.
The International Cruise Victims Association, Inc. (ICV) is a not for profit corporation formed by victims and families of victims of cruise crimes.
Photo Credits International Cruise Victims ("ICV")
1. Honorable Congresswoman Doris Matsui, Laurie Dishman, Bill Dishman
2. ICV members Mark Brimble, Ken Carver, Son Michael Pham
3. ICV members in Washington DC
4. ICV members Ron and Sue DiPiero
5. ICV members Lynnette Hudson, Ken Carver
In a previous article entitled "Arbitration" - Stripping Rape Victims of their Rights," I discussed the sleazy tactics of some corporations who try to take away rape victims' rights by forcing them into "binding mandatory arbitration."
Haliburton/KBR tried to force its employee, Jamie Leigh Jones, into arbitration after she was drugged and gang raped in Iraq while working for a military subcontractor.
Senator Franken introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate which prohibits companies who do business with the U.S. government from including "arbitration" agreements in employment contracts. Rape victims should be entitled to a jury trial and their "Day in Court," rather than have an arbitrator selected by their employer decide their case.
This clip shows the corporate lawyer, for the Haliburton/KBR company who hired the rapists, wilting under Senator Franken's questions. It quickly becomes evident that the lawyer had a morally indefensible position.
It is worth watching to the end:
Some cruise line are just as dirty as Haliburton/KBR.
I will be discussing the issue of cruise lines trying to strip rape victims of their rights over the course of the next several months.
Stay tuned.
P.S. Senator Franken would be a great lawyer . . .
Two stories hit the internet this weekend regarding children being raped on cruise ships.
12 year Old Raped On Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas
The first article involves allegations that an adult passenger drugged and raped a 12 year old girl .jpg)
who was sailing on Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas. The complaint alleges that the adult met the child at a "teens-only" event sponsored by the cruise line. The information is contained in a Miami maritime lawyer's blog:
"Royal Caribbean Cruise Line advertises and markets that it has programs and caters to pre-teens and teens. In fact, the cruise line advertises on its website that it provides as 'adventure ocean youth facilities including teen only areas” and advertises and represents that 'our 12-14 and 15-17' teen groups give them the freedom to come and go as they please for sports, themed parties, movie nights, and more. Teens can also meet up and chill-out in the laid back Living Room lounge, or cut loose at Fuel, the teen only night club.
Royal Caribbean also markets, advertises and represents that 'parents don’t have to worry about you hanging out there, because every member of our team staff holds a college degree and education, recreation or a related field and has experience working with youth ages 3-17.' Their advertisement also states that this program is 'available on all ships.'
However, on this particular cruise, despite its representations, Royal Caribbean allowed an adult man to attend a teen-only event. In turn, the adult man then seduced our client, a minor child, 12 years-of-age at the time of this incident, drugged her, and raped her."
These type of cases are troubling because the public does not realize that there is a problem with sexual predators on cruises (both crew and passengers). To make matters worse, the cruise lines tell the parents not to worry about their kids because the cruise line will keep them safe which is not true.
We have handled and are currently handling cases where children from age 3 to 17 have been raped or molested after being entrusted to the cruise lines' "kid activity centers" or "teen camps." Some of the parents of the victimized children were cruise fanatics before their lives were forever changed by the crime committed against their children.
Juvenile Sexually Assaulted on P & O Cruises' Pacific Sun
The second story involves the alleged sexual assault of a juvenile on P & O Cruises' Pacific Sun. The article is entitled "Sex Claims Clouds Cruise." Cruise Law News was the first to report the incident in the U.S. in an article dated October 10, 2009. I also tweeted about the incident on Twitter.
Then silence.
Cruise Community's Indifference to Shipboard Crimes Involving Children?
No U.S. newspaper covered the stories. No one in the world of Twitter re-tweeted the stories. The cruise line did not even bother to issue a press statement about the sexual assault of a minor on the P & O cruise. No calm and reassuring statement via YouTube by cruise line CEO Ann Sherry, who I have praised in the past.
The Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), whose Twitter name is humorously @CruiseFacts didn't even bother to issue its usual crime-is-rare denials. Not a single one of the 16,000 travel agents, who are an integral part of CLIA, took a moment to inquire into the stories.
What's more disturbing is that no one in the cruise community bothered to address these disturbing stories. The editors of the popular CruiseMates or CruiseCritic online cruise communities couldn't find space on their blogs to mention the assault of a minor during a cruise. There are hundreds of cruise fanatics who tweet and post comments incessantly about the most trivial of cruise "issues."
But not a single mention of a minor being raped during a cruise.
Frivolous Thoughts From a Frivolous Industry?
Instead, the cruise fanatics were obsessed with the "issue" of an Italian couple filing suit because the cruise line did not tell them that they booked a gay cruise. Like, who cares? Well the cruise community does. They were so fired up about the two homophobic cruisers that USA Today's cruise community blog @CruiseLog recorded, as of the writing of this blog, 757 comments on the story. @CruiseLog's story about some nuts suing over a gay cruise was the fifth most read story at USA Today, ahead of the story about President on Obama trip to New Orleans!
But not a single mention of a child raped during a cruise.
The cruise fans who blog and twitter undoubtedly use the same search words in their Goggle readers as I do or have similar RSS feeds. They obviously see the same stories popping up about sexual assault of children on cruise ships, or the robbery of eleven cruise passengers last Sunday at a tourist attraction in the middle of Nassau, as I did.
But they choose to ignore these type of unpleasant stories. Is it because they sold out to the cruise lines who pay money for banners and ads on their web sites? Or they don't want to disrupt their give-us-a-free-cruise-and-we-will-write-a nice-review arrangement? Or because they simply don't want to offend their friends in the cruise industry who invite them to the behind-the-scene parties and events?
Which Cruise Line has the Best Steakhouse???
So we have cruise cheerleaders like @CruiseMates, @CruiseCritic and the @CruiseWhatevers tweeting and blogging incessantly about breaking "stories," like just how big the Oasis of the Seas is!!! Wow!!!
I realize that those cruise fans reading this blog have more important issues to consider. Check out the debate on USA Today's cruise blog now: Which cruise line has the best steakhouse? We're debating the topic today!! 48 comments and counting!
Now that's something to blog about!
In April 2008, I attended the Congressional Victim's Rights Awards Caucus Ceremony in Washington, D.C. One of my clients and good friends, Laurie Dishman, was being 
honored by the Caucus. Ms. Dishman had been raped on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. The cruise line mistreated her following the shipboard crime.
Ms. Dishman became a zealous advocate for rape victims after experiencing first-hand how the cruise line treated her and tried to cover the crime up. She received an award from her Congresswoman, the Honorable Doris Matsui of Sacramento California. The photo to the the left is of Congresswoman Matsui, Ms. Dishman, and her dad Bill Dishman.
But this article is not about Ms. Dishman, who is one of the most amazing women in the world. I will write about Ms. Dishman's trials & tribulations and her resounding victories in later blogs. This is about another brave young woman, Jamie Leigh Jones.
At the awards ceremony, Ms. Dishman and I met Ms. Jones. Ms. Jones .jpg)
was also being honored by her Congressman, the Honorable Ted Poe of the 2nd Congressional District in Texas (Houston, Beaumont). Congressman Poe has attended some of the hearings in Washington over the years regarding the problem with crimes on cruise ships. He has been a consistent supporter of crime victims, including rape victims on cruise ships.
Ms. Jones attended the awards ceremony with her fiance, a member of the U.S. Navy, and her family.
While receiving her award, Ms. Jones briefly explained what happened to her. While working in Iraq for Halliburton/KBR, a military contractor, her co-employees drugged and then gang raped her. She was also locked in a container and told not to report the crime.
When she filed suit to hold the rapists and Halliburton responsible for the horrific crime, her employer moved to dismiss her lawsuit and send her to what is called "arbitration." Halliburton had inserted language into her employment agreement which tried to take away her right to a trial by jury. Halliburton wanted her case to be decided by a single "arbitrator", picked of course by Halliburton (and undoubtedly a man), in a confidential setting. She also had no right to appeal the arbitrator's decision.
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I was dumbstruck to think that a rape victim could lose all of her legal rights and be subject to a "kangaroo court" where the same company who hired her rapists would also hire the arbitrator who would decide her case. It seemed like being raped again.
Halliburton's lawyers insisted on enforcing the "arbitration" scheme they prepared to rig the legal proceedings in favor of the corporation. The matter went on appeal to the Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit.
The Court of Appeal recently ruled in favor of Ms. Jones. The Court held that her claims for assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring, retention, and supervision, and false imprisonment are not subject to arbitration. The Court's opinion is available online to review.
The magazine Mother Jones covered Ms. Jones' story in an article entitled "Court Okays Halliburton Rape Trial." It is worth a read.
There are corporations in the U.S., including cruise lines, who have modeled themselves on the Halliburton approach of let's-screw-our-employees-with-an-arbitration-agreement. Like Halliburton's lawyers, the cruise lines' lawyers have been plotting to deprive their employees of their rights. Some cruise lines are worse than others. In subsequent blogs, I will 
discuss how some particularly bad cruise lines are scheming to strip their injured crew members - including rape victims - of their right to jury trials and U.S. maritime rights which have existed for 200 years.
The Fifth Circuit's decision tells employers that you can't take away rights via arbitration when your employees drug, brutalize, and falsely imprison a young woman.
The Court saw through Halliburton's arbitration scheme, and its secret kangaroo court.
Now Ms. Jones can now seek justice in a court of law in front of a jury of her peers, rather than one of Halliburton's business partners.
Photo Credits
Photos of Laurie Dishman - International Cruise Victims organization
Photo of Ms. Jamie Leigh Jones - ABC News
Photos of Ms. Jones and Congressman Ted Poe - Website of Honorable Ted Poe, 2nd Congressional District of Texas
ABC News in Australia reports that police are investigating a sexual assault which occured on the cruise ship Pacific Sun operated by Princess Cruises' sister company P & O Cruises. The alleged crime took place on the P & O cruise ship during a seven day cruise of the South Pacific near Noumea. Australian police boarded the Pacific Sun when the ship returned to Brisbane today.
At this time there is little information other than the ABC News report. The newspapers in Australia resemble, at least to me, the British press. They are aggressive in reporting stories like this. I expect there to be numerous articles on line soon.
In a post earlier today, I commented on the risk passengers face of sexual assault on cruises, both by crew members and other passengers. I have commented extensively on the sexual assault of P & O Cruises passenger Dianne Brimble who died on the Pacific Sun.
Cruise lines have suffered from terrible publicity due to the irresponsible way that they have responded to shipboard crimes. For example, after Ms. Brimble died, the P & O brand (a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation which also owns sister company Princess Cruises), began running a highly sexualized marketing campaign touting an image of booze and sex.
A commenter to a previous post commented that P & O "pimped out their female passengers, with the 'Seamen Wanted' promotional postcard, depicting a deck full of women wearing bikinis, accompanied by a tag line 'More girls, more sun, more fun. There's nothing else a guy needs to know.' "
In a post last week, I praised the leadership of P & O's CEO Ann Sherry who inherited this mess but seems to have brought a professionalism and air of transparency to the cruise line.
In the past, P & O Cruises issued a press statement following a sexual assault on the Pacific Star.
The last time the press reported a sexual assault on a Princess Cruises or P & O cruise was earlier this year. A Princess Cruises waiter assaulted and attempted to rape a passenger aboard Princess Cruises' Coral Princess. The Princess Cruises' employee, identified as Jorge Manuel Teixeira, 38, of Portugal, was arraigned on three counts each of aggravated sexual assault and sexual abuse. He is awaiting trial.
A P & O passenger was also raped aboard the Pacific Star earlier this year as well. A newspaper in Australia reported that the P & O ship's crew found a 46-year-old female passenger in a state of shock and suffering bruises in the early hours following a New Year's Eve party. She alleged that a 37-year-old Australian passenger raped her while she was sleeping in her cabin. Like the instant case, the attack happened near Noumea.
Regarding this latest report of sexual assault, I expect that we will soon hear from Ms. Sherry, probably via YouTube if her lawyers will "let her do her thing." Otherwise, the Australian press will be the only ones commenting on yet another sexual assault on a Princess or P & O cruise ship.
October 11, 2009 Update:
P & O Cruises has not issued a press release or provided an update on their website or ship blogs yet. An online newspaper in Australia, News.com.au, reports that the alleged victim is believed to be a juvenile. Queensland police are investigating and have interviewed "people allegedly involved in the incident." But a police spokesperson indicated that no one had been arrested or charged. The spokesperson also "refused to say how many people were involved in the incident, or where they were from."
Photo credit Jim Walker, Star Princess, Seattle, July 4, 2009
A Canadian newspaper reports that a crew member from Indonesia will soon find out whether he will serve additional jail time for possession of child pornography. Crew member Hendri Dharmawan, age 29, was working as a pastry chef on the Carnival Triumph when he was arrested September 1 in Halifax. He has been in a Nova Scotia jail for the past five weeks after pleadings guilty to the child porn charges.
The crew member was caught with pornography on his iPhone as he returned to the Carnival cruise ship. The border police then accompanied him back to his cabin where they discovered over two hours of child pornography on Dharmawan's laptop and external hard drive. The footage depicted girls as young as eight and boys as young as 10 being abused.
This type of story should serve as a wake up to parents who take their children on cruises. Yes, there are sexual deviants and predators on cruise ships. We have had too many cases where unsuspecting parents leave their kids in the cabin when they go to the casino, or stay late at the disco. While the parents are gone, a cabin attendant enters the cabin with his pass key. Let's skip the details. Trust me, leaving a 12 year old boy or his 14 year old sister alone in a cabin is a bad idea.
Cruise lines suggest that the crew members are carefully screened before they are hired. Nonsense. First of all, the cruise line themselves do not perform background checks at all. They rely on the hiring agents around the world to perform all of the "screening." But what type of background check can be performed in countries like Nicaragua, Trinidad, or India? These places do not have computerized databases for drivers licenses or social security numbers much less a database for criminals or a tracking system for sexual predators. Many of the hiring agencies who are suppose to be conducting background checks are paid commissions when they place employees on cruise ships. There is a disincentive to keep the bad apples off of the cruise ships.
If a crew member molests your child on the cruise ship, don't expect the cruise line to believe your child. Cruise lines have a notorious and well earned reputation of covering up crimes. Their priority too often is defending the crew members and their own marketing image.
There is also the danger of other passengers abusing your children. A cruise ship presents the same dangers as your home town. A web site called Cruise Ship Sex Offenders lists some of the sex perverts who have worked or sailed on cruise ships.
Jim Walker practices admiralty and maritime personal injury law. He has been involved in maritime litigation since 1983. Based inMore...
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