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A federal court in Miami, Florida recently awarded pre-judgment interest in the amount of $2,134,229.90 (calculated at $1,157.93 per day) on a jury verdict awarded to a woman raped on a Carnival cruise ship. The federal court jury awarded $10,200,000 awarded two years ago (on July 18, 2022) after a crew member raped the young passenger on the Carnival Miracle. This news was published by the New York Post and the Daily Mail.

Facts Alleged By Jane Doe

The salient facts are contained in part in a decision by a federal magistrate who ruled on various pre-trial motions filed by the parties and reported in the case of Jane Doe v. Carnival Corporation d/b/a Carnival Cruise Line (USDC FL case number 19-247660) . , . In the pertinent parts, the decision states:

“Jane Doe was a passenger onboard Carnival’s vessel, (the Carnival Miracle), and in the early hours of December 2, 2018, she alleges that Fredy Anggara, a Carnival crew member from Indonesia, raped her in a storage closet.”

The complaint (lawsuit) which Jane Doe’s lawyer filed further alleges additional details, which include:

The incident occurred on “December 1, 2018;”

This was the “first cruise” of Jane Doe, a resident of the State of Washington;

“On the last night of the subject cruise, Jane Doe went up a stairwell. At the top was a CARNIVAL employee (see photo produced in discovery);

Once Jane Doe reached the top of the stairs, the subject employee lured Jane Doe into a (maintenance) closet. He went inside the closet with her, locked the door, raped her, and ejaculated on her;

Thereafter he unlocked the closet door and let Jane Doe leave;

Jane Doe immediately rushed away towards her cabin. The assailant caught up to her and asked her to allow him back in her room. Jane Doe declined his request;

Once Jane Doe reached her room, she burst into tears and told her friend what had just happened;

Jane Doe and her friend went to find help and report the sexual assault;

Jane Doe started hyperventilating and having panic attacks;

Jane Doe located employees of Defendant to report the crime;

The cruise’s staff members placed Jane Doe in a wheelchair and took her to the ship’s medical facility where staff utilized a rape kit and gave her medications to consume in order to fight sexually transmitted diseases she may have contracted during the rape;

Jane Doe was subjected to numerous episodes of humiliation following the medical examination where she had to walk through dozens of passengers who were waiting to disembark the ship. They were ogling her as she passed through them in just a t-shirt as she was not provided any fresh clothes to wear;

Following the cruise, Jane Doe followed up with CARNIVAL to see if the subject employee had been fired, if any disciplinary action was taken, and/or if he was arrested. CARNIVAL did not respond.”

The Washington Post covered the trial and and summarized the allegations and the victim’s damages:

“The lawsuit claims Carnival was liable for the rape because it failed to monitor dark, public areas of the ship where women could be vulnerable to assaults. It says the company should have exercised a level of reasonable care for guests because “on board its cruise ships there have been numerous assaults, batteries, sexual assaults and batteries, rapes, and attacks perpetrated by crew on passengers.”

In court documents responding to questions from Carnival Corp.’s representation, the plaintiff described how the alleged assault changed her life.

“I have depressive episodes,” she says in the documents. “I suffer from anxiety especially in public. It has affected how intimate I am with a person.”

“At my lowest point I thought of killing myself,” she says in the documents. “I had a plan. I went around to visit my friends and created memories for them to remember me. I also wrote everyone notes. I was hospitalized.”

Carnival’s Defense

During discovery, Carnival responded to the rape by claiming through its corporate representative Suzie Vasquez (a lawyer) that on Carnival cruise ships allegedly “sexual assaults are actually very, very rare . . .” Carnival claimed that the victims consented to sex with the crew member in the closet (a claim that the jury obviously did not believe).

As explained below, rapes on Carnival ships are hardly “rare.” Carnival has the most rapes and sexual assaults on its cruise ships, both in total numbers and on a per capita basis. It has more sexual assaults than around half of the states in the U.S. on a per capita basis. Read: Department of Transportation Finally Discloses Crimes on Cruise Ships for 2023: Carnival Cruise Line Ships Continue to Have the Highest Number of Physical Assaults, Sexual Assaults, and Rapes On the High Seas.

Cruise Expert – Dr. Ross Klein

Prior to trial, Carnival tried to prohibit notable cruise expert Dr. Ross Klein, who is the author of the popular CruiseJunkie web site, to testify regarding the frequency of rapes aboard Carnival cruise ships. Dr. Klein has previously testified as an expert before both houses of Congress regarding the issues of crime on cruise ships. His opinions are attached. Jane Doe’s counsel sought to elicit testimony from Dr. Klein that Carnival had notice that Mr. Anggara, the Carnival assailant, was likely to assault passengers. Carnival tried to block Dr. Klein’s testimony that:

  • The cruise industry as a whole, and Carnival Cruise Line in particular, has an awareness of the problem of rapes, sexual assaults, and sex-related incidents on cruise ships, including the incidents of rape, sexual assaults, and sex-related incidents on Carnival cruise ships.
  • Carnival Cruise Line failed in using available data to conduct a social epidemiological analysis of crimes on its ships with the goal of targeted and specific strategies for preventing rape, sexual assaults, and sex-related incidents.
  • Guests are given an elevated sense of safety by promotional material for Carnival Cruise Lines cruises, and by publication of crime statistics for rape and sexual assault on its website.
  • The sexual assault of Jane Doe was to a degree foreseeable given the cruise line’s knowledge about past sex-related incidents, about use of alcohol onboard Carnival ships, and its failure to implement reasonable initiatives to address the problem of rape, sexual assault, and sex-related incidents onboard Carnival ships.

In an order denying Carnival’s motion in its entirety, the federal magistrate ruled that Dr. Klein is qualified, his methodology is reliable, and his testimony is helpful to the jury.

Rape Cases Against Carnival Cruise Line

In the year before COVID-19 which crippled the cruise industry, there were over 100 sexual assaults on cruise ships, according to DOT cruise crime statistics which breaks down as follows:

  • Carnival Cruise Line: 43 sexual assault victims (37 passengers).
  • Royal Caribbean: 31 sexual victims (20 passengers).

I attended a hearing in 2007 before Congress regarding cruise ship crime where a senior FBI official testified that only 7% of sexual assaults on cruise ships are prosecuted in federal court.

This poor prosecution rate is because of the tendency of he FBI not to believe victims of sexual crimes, the historic reluctance of the FBI to become involved in sex crimes at sea, the tendency of the cruse industry to sweep the crimes under the rug, and the inadvertent or intentional destruction of evidence on cruise ships.

Carnival Cruise Line Leads Cruise Industry with the Most Sexual Assaults

The U.S. Congress has studied the problems of rape aboard cruise ships. The cruise industry’s trade organization, CLIA, argued that per capita cruise ship crime rates should be based on the total number of people cruising in any year (around 30,000,000 cruised this year) rather than the average number of people populating cruise ships on any given day. By analogy, the per capita crime statistics for U.S. cities are calculated based on the number of residents in a city. Tourists who visit the city during the year are obviously not counted as residents. Imagine how the crime statistics for New York City would be diluted if instead of calculating crime rates based on the number of residents in the city (approximately 8 million), this number was inflated to include each of the more than 60 million people who visit the city annually.

Congress rejected CLIA’s argument and concluded that per capita cruise crime statistics should be calculated based on the average number of passengers sailing at a particular time, not on the annual number of passengers.

Congress’ methodology to determine sexual assault rate results in a per capita rate for Carnival Cruise Line of nearly 40 (39.6) per 100,000.  This number is calculated by taking the number of sexual assaults on Carnival ships reported to the FBI in the last 12 months of 2019 (43), and dividing it by the total number of people on Carnival’s fleet of ships (around 75,000 passengers and approximately 33,500 crew members for a total of 108,500).

The per capita rate of sexual assaults on Carnival ships of 40 per 100,000 is significant.  It is a higher per capita rate than California, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and Georgia (and over a dozen other states). The rate on Carnival ships is higher than the average per capita rape rate in the United States of around 27 of 100,000.   

In statistics kept by the Department of Transportation showing allegations of criminal activity on ships that embark and disembark passengers in the United States, sexual assault is the top offense. There were 82 allegations in 2018 and 101 in 2019.

Carnival’s Discovery Violations

The Court also entered discovery sanctions and assessed attorney fees against Carnival for its delay of over one and a-half-years in producing videos from a security officer’s body-worn camera (BWC) which contained several interviews with the victim. “The Court finds that sanctions are in order to compensate Doe and her counsel for fighting tooth and nail to obtain video that they were entitled to at a much earlier stage of the process.”

Jane Doe’s Counsel – Daniel Courtney

Jane Doe is represented by Miami lawyer Daniel Courtney.  This is a significant verdict which demonstrates the seriousness of the case and the victim’s injuries.

The Jury Obviously Did Not Believe Carnival

This case reveals the danger of the cruise line claiming that a young woman on a vacation cruise would allegedly “consent” to go into a closet to have sex with an employee (stranger) who ejaculates on her. The jury obviously was offended by this claim, particularly from the Carnival representative (a lawyer) who falsely claimed that shipboard rapes are “rare” when in fact the Carnival fleet has more sexual assaults than half of the states in the U.S.

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Image credit: Carnival Miracle – Master0Garfield – CC BY-SA 4.0  commons / wikimedia (top); CRUISEMAPPER (bottom); Fredy Anggara – Daily Mail.

A 28 year-old man was arrested this past weekend in Port Everglades on charges of raping a 20 year-old woman on the Freedom of the Seas, according to local News 10. At the time of the arrest, the Royal Caribbean cruise ship had just returned to port in Fort Lauderdale from a seven day cruise to the Bahamas, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands.

Juan Campos was booked into jail in Fort Lauderdale following the arrest. Campos’s criminal defense lawyer told the press that “it sounds like they were making out, it started going a little too far, when the lady said ‘stop,’ when she verbally expressed ‘stop,’ he stopped.” The attorney claimed that “it was a normal cruise, he was with friends, they met some people on board and next thing you know, he’s charged with this crime.” The defense lawyer bizarrely claimed that the police report contained no reference to “force or violence” otherwise “they would have charged it with force or using violence.” Of course, as we all know, the crime of rape does not require force or violence but only a lack of consent. The arrest report indicated that the victim was allegedly penetrated with an unknown object against her will, stating “in the feeling of pain, the victim placed her hands on the defendant’s shoulders, pushed him and told him to stop and it hurts.”

The crime data reported by Royal Caribbean to the FBI pursuant to the Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act indicates that there were at least ten rapes and sexual assaults alleged on its ships during the first two quarters of this year.

Sexual assaults, including rape, are the most reported crimes on cruise ships.

Have a comment or question? Please leave on below or join the discussion on our Facebook page.

Image credit: Juan Campos, arrest report, and screen grab – Local 10 News; Freedom of the Seas – Beyond My Ken – CC BY-SA 4.0 commons wikimedia.

September 4, 2024 Update:

The Miami Herald contains additional information (“At one point, Campos was on top of her and unbuttoned her shorts, the report states. He then penetrated her with something against her will, deputies say. The woman tried pushing Campos off of her, even telling that ‘it hurts’ and to ‘stop,’ according to the report. Campos, however, continued and attempted to turn her over to sexually assault her but was unable to do so, deputies added.”) as well as a denial by Campos’ defense lawyer (“Campos’ attorney, Ed Hoeg, said in an email to the Herald that his client is not guilty, and there are witnesses who will dispute the alleged victim’s version of events.”)

A Royal Caribbean stateroom attendant on the Symphony of the Seas was sentenced by a federal court judge to 30 years in prison for producing child pornography.

Arvin Joseph Mirasol, age 34, a citizen of the Philippines, was sentenced in Miami federal court yesterday.

During a cruise from Fort Lauderdale in late February, an adult guest who was traveling with members of her family discovered a small spy camera (less than the size of a quarter) hidden in their bathroom. The tiny camera was positioned immediately below the sink and was positioned to record people using the toilet. The guest immediately reported the spy camera to guest services and security officers eventually responded. While security was present in the guests’ cabin, Mirasol appeared in the cabin and admitted that he owned the camera. The guests were savvy enough to record the location of the camera as well as Mirasol’s comments when he returned to the cabin.

Upon the Royal Caribbean cruise ship’s return to Port Everglades on March 3rd, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents searched Mirasol’s electronics, “uncovering numerous videos of children in various stages of undress,” according to Local News 7.

Federal agents discovered “numerous videos of naked females” as well as images of child sexual abuse while looking at his phone, an SD card and USB stick. One video showed Mirasol installing a camera in a cruise guest’s bathroom.

Mirasol began working as a cabin attendant for Royal Caribbean in December of 2023. The investigation revealed that Mirasol had been ‘secretly recording passengers, including children as young as 2 years old” since he began working on the Royal Caribbean ship three months earlier.

According to federal investigators, Mirasol would enter guests’ rooms “while they were showering and hide under their beds to record them exiting the shower.”

In addition to the federal criminal charges of producing child pornography, Mirasol was also charged with six counts of video voyeurism in state court after the Broward Sheriff’s Office interviewed him.

Child pornography and the use of spy cameras on cruise ships have become a particular problem in the last year. This incident is just one of at least sixteen incidents in a period of six months where crew members working on cruise ships have been arrested on child pornography charges.

So far, crew members from five companies have been arrested on child pornography charges: Carnival – 6 (or 7)(see explanation below*); Royal Caribbean – 4; Disney – 3; Celebrity – 1; and Holland America Line – 1.

We are aware of at least two incidents cases where spy cameras were placed on cruise ships to film unsuspecting guests. One case involved the Carnival Fantasy:

Spy Camera and Transmitter in Carnival Fantasy Cabin U160 – Video Voyeurism?

And one recent incident involved Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas just last May:

FBI: Cruise Guest Arrested For Using Hidden Camera in Public Bathroom on Harmony of the Seas To Videotape More Than 150 Individuals Including At Least 40 Minors

Have a comment or question? Please leave one below or join the discussion on our Facebook page.

Image credits: Symphony of the Seas – Darthvadrouw – CC BY-SA 4.0 commons / wikimedia; Arvin Joseph Mirasol – Broward County Sheriff’s Office via News 7; headline text – News 7.

*The employer of one crew member, Ferry Maryanto, who was arrested in June for child pornography, was not identified. He may have been employed by Carnival Cruise Line on either the Carnival Horizon or the Carnival Magic. He was arrested at the port of Miami on a day when two cruise ships operated by Carnival, one ship operated by Virgin Voyages and one ship operated by Norwegian Cruise Line were in port.

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Today, our office manager, Betsy Benitez, who has been an integral part of this firm since 2001, suggested that we begin to use Chat GPT. I had never used this technology before and was a bit skeptical about integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into our law practice. So I typed CruiseLawNews into chatGPT and asked the technology to tell me about this law blog. It responded:

“Cruise Law News is a prominent blog that provides information and updates on legal matters related to the cruise industry. Created by maritime attorney Jim Walker, the blog covers a range of topics including passenger rights, shipboard accidents, and legal issues involving cruise lines.

History and Background

  1. Founder: Jim Walker, a well-known maritime attorney with extensive experience in maritime law, established Cruise Law News. His practice focuses on representing clients in cases involving cruise ship injuries, maritime personal injury, and related legal issues.
  2. Purpose: The blog serves as a resource for both cruise passengers and industry professionals, offering insights into legal developments, safety issues, and news related to cruise ships. It aims to keep the public informed about the legal aspects of cruising and to advocate for passengers’ rights.
  3. Content: The blog features articles on a wide range of topics, including:
    • Accidents and Injuries: Reports on incidents involving cruise ship passengers or crew, including accidents, falls, and illnesses.
    • Legal Cases: Updates on ongoing and recent lawsuits involving cruise lines, highlighting significant legal battles and outcomes.
    • Safety and Regulations: Information on safety standards, changes in regulations, and tips for passengers to protect themselves.
    • Passenger Rights: Guidance on what passengers can do if they encounter problems or disputes with cruise lines.
  4. Impact: Over the years, Cruise Law News has become a significant source of information for those seeking to understand the legal landscape of the cruise industry. It has helped raise awareness about issues that may not receive widespread media coverage and has provided a platform for passengers to voice their concerns.
  5. Developments: The blog has evolved to cover emerging issues in the cruise industry, including environmental concerns, health crises, and changes in maritime law. Its coverage adapts to new trends and challenges within the industry.

Overall, Cruise Law News plays a crucial role in the intersection of maritime law and the cruise industry, offering valuable information and advocacy for consumers and legal professionals alike.”

The summary seems pretty accurate to me.

I have not yet prepared an article using chatGPI or other AI products. Every word here, and the other 3,750 articles which I’ve written in the last 15 years, are typed by me personally (which may explain why there are often typo’s in this blog). If I begin to use AI to write blog articles, which at this point I’m hesitant point to do, I’ll let everyone know in advance.

Have a question or comment? Please leave one below or join the discussion on our Facebook page.

Image credit: ChatGPT – iSend; photos of Jim Walker and Carnival Liberty cruise ship – Jim Walker; Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas – Expedia.com via SFGate.

The second quarter 2024 cruise ship crime data mandated by the Cruise Vessel Safety Security and Safety Act (CVSSA) released this morning shows that Carnival Cruise Lines again leads the cruise industry with the most sexual assaults and rapes in the cruise industry, both in real numbers and on a per capita basis.

Today the Department of Transportation listed nine (9) sexual assaults and rapes on Carnival cruise ships this last quarter (April 1 to June 30). There were sixteen (16) other sexual assaults and rapes on all other cruise ships with Royal Caribbean (5), NCL (3), Disney (3), Princess (2) and Celebrity, Linblad and MSC experiencing one (1) each.

Carnival has 38 percent of the sexual assaults and rapes in the cruise industry per the CVSSA data.

The first quarter 2024 (January 1 – March 31) DOT cruise crime data also revealed that Carnival Cruise Line is the cruise brand with the most sexual violence at sea. Carnival Cruise Line reported that there were nine (9) instances of sexual assault / rape on its twenty-seven ships, with Royal Caribbean (with the same number of ships but a higher number of passengers) having eight (8) such crimes.

Last year Carnival Cruise Line had a total of forty-five (45) sexual assaults / rapes. Considering it has around 115,000 passengers and crew members onboard its fleet on an average day, this turns out to be a higher per capita sexual assault rate than around 20 states in the U.S. Royal Caribbean, on the other hand, has fewer sexual crimes but more passengers (closer to 150,000 passengers and crew members on the same number of ships at any given time).

Carnival also leads the cruise industry in the most number of physical assaults with serious personal injuries.

The purpose of the public disclosure of mandatory reporting of sexual assaults, rapes, and physical assaults with serious bodily injuries on cruise ships is to educate and warn the traveling public of dangers on cruise ships. By all accounts, Carnival remains the most dangerous place to take your family on a vacation cruise.

Have a comment or question? Please leave one below or join the discussion on our facebook page.

 Carnival Liberty leaving Miami – Jim Walker; Carnival Magic in Norfolk – Jim Walker

Update: In response to an inquiry on our Facebook, “why is this happening?,” I responded:

In my view, because there’s way too much alcohol sold and served on Carnival’s so called “fun ships,” creating a party-boat mentality, plus a history of concealing crimes and protecting the corporate image at the expense of safety of women & children . . . this has been going on for too long! https://www.miaminewtimes.com/…/carnival-try-criminal…

Early this morning, a passenger reportedly went overboard from a cruise ship sailing in the Adriatic Sea, according to several passengers who contacted us today. The Explorer of the Seas was sailing on a seven day Greece-Croatia cruise when what is described as a young man went overboard around 4:30 to 5:00 a.m. (Another passenger stated on Twitter that the announcement of the overboard was around 3:40 a.m.) There is no description of how the passenger went overboard or from what location. There reportedly was a public announcement on the ship of the incident.

AIS data shows the cruise ship changing direction several times as the Royal Caribbean ship began initiating search and rescue efforts.

At least one passenger is tweeting information about this incident:


A newspaper in Croatia is reporting that the man went overboard around 5:30 a.m. this morning.

On August 3rd, the Explorer of the Seas departed from Ravenna, Italy and sailed to Dubrovnik, Croatia, and then to Piraeus-Athens, Greece, Santorini, Greece, and was heading to Zadar, Croatia today before returning to Ravenna.

The Explorer of the Seas is not equipped with a man overboard (MOB) system with state of the art sensors with motion detection / infrared / radar systems, which would have automatically sent a signal to the bridge of the ship and then tracked the overboard person in the water.

This is at least the 414th person to go overboard from a cruise ship or large ferry in the last 25 years according to leading cruise expert Dr. Ross Klein who keeps track of such events and shares the data online.

It appears that the ship is still conducting search and rescue efforts at this time.

We will update this article as more information becomes available.

If you have a comment or question, please leave one below, or join the conversation on our Facebook page.

Image credit: Explorer of the Seas (in Greece) Kefalonitis94 – CC0 commons / wikimedia; AIS data – cruisemapper.

Update:

As usual, Royal Caribbean has not released an official statement of the incident, nor disclosed the identity, age or nationality of the overboard guest.

One newspaper in Croatia, Slobodna Dalmacija, announced that the missing guest is a “young citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

U.S. Homeland Security arrested two crew members on cruise ships operated by Carnival Cruise Line when they were in New Orleans two weeks ago. According to a newspaper in News Orleans, Homeland Security arrested Abdhul Rouvoof Shaik of India and Reza Heta Pratama of Indonesia for possession and transportation of child pornography after they disembarked two different Carnival Cruise Line ships, Carnival Liberty (above right) and Carnival Valor (above left), in New Orleans. 

The arrests were first reported by the Times Picayune and then picked up by USA TODAY. Neither publication provided any information which would place the story in the context of the larger problem of child pornography in the cruise industry.

Unlike other cases, I have not found arrest photographs and/or mug shots of these Carnival crew members.

These arrests bring the total number of crew members apprehended on cruise ships for child pornography to the unprecedented number of fifteen (15) cruise ship employees in just the first six (6) months of this year.

So far, crew members from five companies have been arrested on child pornography charges: Carnival – 6 (or 7); Royal Caribbean – 3; Disney – 3; Celebrity – 1; and Holland America Line – 1. The employer of one crew member, Ferry Maryanto, who was arrested last month, was not identified. He may have been employed by Carnival Cruise Line on either the Carnival Horizon or the Carnival Magic. He was arrested at the port of Miami on a day when two cruise ships operated by Carnival, one ship by Virgin Voyages and one ship by Norwegian Cruise Line were in port.

The last six or seven crew members arrested on child pornography charges were all employed by Carnival Cruise Line. Two of four Carnival crew members arrested in early June at the port of Miami worked on the Carnival Conquest. Iputuagus Karnawan, a/k/a Putu Karnawan (age 28)(from Indonesia), reportedly worked in the galley as a cook on the Carnival Conquest. Imadewisma Dana (also age 28 and from Indonesia), also reportedly worked as a cook on the Carnival Conquest.

Igedeboy Mardika (photo below right), a 28-year-old Indonesian national, and Sreerag Vazhayil (photo below left) , a 32-year-old Indian national, were also arrested for child pornography and were also accused of possessing bestiality videos on the Carnival Cruise Line ship where they worked (either the Carnival Horizon or Carnival Celebration).

Crackdown On Child Pornography By U.S. and Florida Law Enforcement in South Florida

Considering the high number of crew members who have been arrested on cruise ships in South Florida in the last six months, there appears to be an effort by both state and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute people who possess and transport child pornography (and bestiality videos) on cruise ships. It is likely that once law enforcement seizes a crew member’s iPhone and/or computer, they obtain evidence such as social media sites and internet transmissions which share child pornography and/or bestiality images implicating a wide number of ship employees. Some of these crew members appear to trade and/or exchange images with other ship employees.

The arrest affidavit in the pending criminal case no. 2:24-mj-00105-DM filed in federal court for the Eastern District of Louisiana states that crew member Shaik was a member of a group of men in a WhatsApp group who would share images of “children having sex.” He would chat with his friend from Indonesia and send and receive “porn videos” involving children. The Indonesian friend was referred to in the arrest affidavit as a “co-conspirator.” Shaik waived his Miranda rights against self-incrimination and admitted to the arresting special agent on July 14th that he realized that the video included children and that child pornography was illegal.

It appears that crew member Pratama was directly implicated by Shaik and/or by transmissions on Shaik’s cell rhone. Homeland Security arrested Pratama a few days later, on July 18th.

Carnival allegedly terminated Pratama from his job and dismissed him from the ship following earlier sexual harassment complaints of an unspecified nature from his co-employees, as mentioned in an arrest affidavit by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent. Pratama also reportedly waived his Miranda rights and admitted to obtaining the child pornography images material from a Telegram group.

It seems clear to me the federal and state law enforcement authorities are working with agencies which use state-of-the-art surveillance software where experts monitor child pornography and file-sharing sites to develop a massive international database to catch those who possess and share child abuse images. Read: Inside the Surveillance Software Tracking Child Porn Offenders Across the Globe

It is unprecedented that law enforcement in any particular port would arrest as many as a dozen crew members for child pornography. Before this year, only ports outside of the United States, such as Canada, would arrest more than a just a few cruise ship employees for child pronography in any given year. See for example, Nabbed at Pier 21 – Another Crew Member Busted with Child Porn in Halifax, HAL Cruise Ship Musician Jailed for Child Pornography, Is Child Pornography Widespread on Cruise Ships?, Another Cruise Ship Employee Busted with Child Porn – This Time HAL Veendam, Another Carnival Crew Member Busted for Child Porn, and Costa Crew Member Caught With Child Pornography.

There is no question that there has been a change in the policy of law enforcement to increase scrutinizing of cruise ships as a source for child pornography.

You can read more about the problem of pornography on cruise ships here: Epidemic of Child Pornography on Cruise Ships Continues As Two More Crew Members Are Arrested.

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Image credit: Carnival Valor – Mason Piscitelli – CC BY-SA 4.0 commons / wikimedia; Carnival Liberty – Yankeesman312 CC BY-SA 4.0 commons / wikimedia; Stop Abuse Graphic – Stop Child Abuse Campaign.

A video of a brawl on the Carnival Paradise as the cruise ship was sailing back to Tampa last month has been circulating for the last two days. Newsweek covered the melee in an article titled “Cruise Ship Fight Video Shows Chairs Being Thrown Amid Chaos.” The magazine states the “6-and-a-half-minute video shows chairs being thrown across a dining room and a group of several women entangled in a fight, throwing punches, pulling hair and dragging one another to the ground.” A security guard appears at the scene nearly a minute into the fight. A cruise passenger identified as @Rizzarioman123, who appears from time to time in the video with his eyes seemingly bloodshot, holding a drink in his hand looking for some late night pizza, is heard cursing and encouraging the brawlers as he narrates, blow-by-blow, the fraucus posted on TicTok.

Cruise Radio covered the ruckus and included a statement from Carnival which cited its grandiose but illusory code of conduct which states, in part: “Our Carnival Values underscore that everyone should feel welcome and included, and that everyone on board demonstrate care and respect towards others.” 

Carnival Cruise Line has essentially cornered the market, so to speak, on shipboard violence in its nightclubs and pool bars over the years. Not surprisingly, Carnival has the most physical assaults “leading to serious bodily injury” as per the language of federal law with a total of a least fourteen (14) physical assaults with serious bodily injury reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2023. (In comparison, there are only eight (8) physical assaults with serious injury on all other cruise lines combined making the fleet of Carnival cruise ships by far the most violent cruise ships sailing on the high seas).

In the past, Carnival Cruise Line has characterized brawls like this as “limited, isolated and unprecedented.” Anyone who follows the cruise industry knows that these types of fights which occur on Carnival ships are hardly rare. But in this brawl, the Carnival PR team simply states that those implicated in the violence will be banned from cruising with Carnival again. With Carnival enjoying unprecedented sales and its ships sailing full, this is not much of a deterrence of future violence.

There literally are several dozens of videos on YouTube of fights which have erupted on cruise ships over the years. The vast majority of these brawls occur on Carnival ships.

There are reasons for this problem, in my opinion:

The “wider audience:” Cruising is now more popular than ever. The cruise line’s trade organization, Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), says that over 30 million passengers will take a cruise this year.  Cheaper fares have attracted what Carnival Corporation’s former chairmen Micky Arison characterizes as the “wider audience.” This audience is generally a younger and harder partying crowd. Nearly fifteen years ago in an article titled Cruise Ship Brawls – A Problem that Will Get Bigger with Bigger Ships, I wrote about former CEO Arison discussing potential issues associated with cheap cruise tickets and a more diverse group of passengers.

Arison said: “cruise ships are a microcosm of any city or any location and stuff happens . . . The negatives of discounting might be less commission for agents and less revenue for us but the positive is it opens up the product to a wider audience.” I mentioned that the “wider audience” will undoubtedly include a younger crowd from a different demographic, including what I call the hard partying “Bud Light – tank top” crowd. Carnival has failed to hire additional security to police this more raucous crowd.

Too much alcohol on increasingly gigantic ships: Cruise lines aren’t profitable based solely on their cruise fares. Of all “onboard purchases,” including casino sales, shore excursions, specialty restaurants and gift shops, alcohol sales are the key to keeping the tax-free foreign flagged cruise ships profitable.  Pushing alcohol sales are a key part of Carnival’s so-called “fun ships.” Carnival collects literally hundreds of millions of tax-free dollars a year selling booze on the Carnival Cruise Line fleet. Bartenders, who make a earning solely on gratuities and tips, are often prone to over-serve guests.

Ill trained and and insufficient number of security guards: A common complaint we hear from passengers is that ship security does not intervene at an early stage to stop potentially violent situations from escalating and getting out of hand. Carnival often responds to brawls by praising its supposedly “highly trained security staff.” But images of its security personnel and ship officers kicking and beating passengers (and trying to stop passengers from filming the out of control violence) speaks volumes about Carnival’s shipboard security and the cruise line’s so-called “zero tolerance” of such violence. In many videos, Carnival security personnel are often seen observing the fights or trying to stop people from taking videos of the melees.

Years ago, I asked how Carnival will handle the “wider audience” flocking onto its larger cruise ships. If cruise ships are like cities and “stuff happens,” as Carnival’s Arison rightfully suggests, what steps are cruise lines taking to protect U.S. families? I asked then and will ask now whether Carnival and other cruise lines will ever hire a full complement of well trained and experienced security guards? Or will they continue to try and save money with only a few inexperienced “guards” trying to protect their guests from the inevitable violence when thousands of people squeeze into the huge ships and far too much booze is added to the mess?

The answer to these questions is contained in this video and the numerous other Carnival brawl videos online.

Have a comment or question? Please leave one below or join the discussion on our Facebook page.

July 2, 2024 Update:

TicTok removed the video but @rizzarioman123 posted it on YouTube:

July 3, 2024 Update:

Image credit: Carnival brawl – TicTok by @rizzarioman123, I Meme Therefore I Am (ImMeme0); Carnival Paradise – Crew Center CC By 4.0 commons / wikimedia.

A fire occured this afternoon on the Icon of the Seas, while the Royal Caribbean cruise ship was docked in Costa Maya, Mexico.

As predicted, the cruise line promptly released the usual talking points that: (1) the fire was “small,” (2) caused “brief” power loss, and (3) was “quickly extinguished.” Fortunately, no one has stated that there were any injuries to passengers or crew members.

The popular Cruise Radio reports that “power failed throughout the ship, impacting elevators, air conditioning, service stations, and cabins.”

A Royal Caribbean spokesperson spoke by telephone to Cruise Radio and covered all of the usual PR bases, stating that “a small fire occurred on the Icon of the Seas on Tuesday. The fire was quickly extinguished, and the ship also experienced a brief loss of power.”

A PR announcement was also made on the cruise ship which stated, in part: “There has been an incident on Icon of the Seas on the lower decks, non-technical spaces. Our highly trained crew members are dealing with the situation at hand . . .”

It is curious that the “Only In Dade” site reports, “according to one of the passengers, a loud explosion occurred . . . ” I wonder exactly what that was about?

This is the second power loss of the Icon of the Seas with the first occuring on May 19th, according to Cruise Hive and Cruise Radio.

If you are on the Icon of the Seas, as a guest or crew member, and have details about the fire or images of the fire team responding to the incident, please contact us.

If you have any comments or questions, please join the discussion on our Facebook page.

June 26, 2024 Update: Crew Center reports that according to an unnamed source, the fire was “in the engine room.” Also, “shortly after the initial incident, a second emergency was announced with an Alpha code for a medical emergency at the aft gangway. Some passengers aboard the Icon of the Seas reported that the first emergency calls were for the forward engine rooms . . . ” 

Most “coverage’ by the usual newspapers contain hyperbolic, over-the-top nothing-to see-here cheerleading, with virtually no facts, like this: “There were ‘no injuries‘ and the ‘small fire‘ – which was ‘isolated to a crew area‘ – was ‘quickly extinguished.’ The ship’s backup power was ‘activated immediately,’ and the main power systems were restored.”  https://www.usatoday.com/…/royal-caribbean…/74214662007/

Image credit: Icon of the Seas – Chakie2 CC BY-SA 4.0 commons / wikimedia; fire team on cruise ship descending stairs – Only In Dade.

Content Warning: This article contains references to child sexual abuse, animal abuse and sexual assault of minors.

Local10 News in Miami reports that a 35-year-old crew member appeared in federal court yesterday after federal agents found child sexual abuse material and bestiality videos on his phone after he disembarked at PortMiami on Sunday.

According to the local news station, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents searched the cellphone of Ferry Maryanto, on Sunday afternoon, which revealed “multiple videos/photographs” depicting child sexual abuse material. The station did not identify his home country, although some people tell me that “Maryanto” is a common name in Indonesia.

The videos on the ship employee’s cell phone showed “boys and girls being raped or otherwise sexually abused by men or women.” Miami-Dade Police, who arrested the crew member, said the videos depicted victims “between the ages of 3 and 10 years old being sexually abused.”

Maryanto was also found to be in possession of videos that depicted videos of bestiality, including “multiple videos of women engaging in sexual activity with a horse, pig and dog.”

The local news station reports that Maryanto “made a confession to detectives when being interviewed.”

Maryanto faces 10 counts of possession of child pornography and three counts of sexual conduct with animals. He was being held (on an immigration hold) at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on behalf of the U.S. Marshals Service as of Monday. His bond was set at $2,500 per count.

The arrest report did not disclose the name of Maryanta’s cruise ship employer or the ship where he worked. The only cruise ships in port in Miami last Sunday were the Valiant Lady, Norwegian Breakaway and two Carnival ships, the Carnival Horizon and the Carnival Magic.

This latest arrest brings the total number of crew members arrested to thirteen! So far, crew members from five companies have been arrested on child pornography charges: Carnival – 4; Royal Caribbean – 3; Disney – 3; Celebrity – 1; and Holland America Line – 1.

The last four crew members arrested were all employed by Carnival Cruise Line. Two of the four Carnival crew members, who were arrested two weeks ago, Iputuagus Karnawan, a/k/a Putu Karnawan (age 28)(from Indonesia), reportedly worked in the galley as a cook on the Carnival Conquest. Imadewisma Dana (also age 28 and from Indonesia), also reportedly worked a cook on the Carnival Conquest.

Imadewisma Dana (left), Iputuagus Karnawan (upper right), Carnival Conquest.

The other two Carnival crew members, who were arrested last week on charges of possessing child pornography, Igedeboy Mardika (photo below right), a 28-year-old Indonesian national, and Sreerag Vazhayil (photo below left) , a 32-year-old Indian national, were also accused of possessing bestiality videos on the Carnival Cruise Line ship where they worked (either the Carnival Horizon or Carnival Celebration).

Epidemic of Child Pornography on Cruise Ships Continues As Two More Crew Members Are Arrested

Vazhayil possessed a “video of a man having sex with a horse;” Mardika “had three videos of women having sex with a horse, a dog and a pig,” according to Miami-Dade Police. These bestiality allegations against Carnival crew member Mardika are exactly the same as the charges against crew member Ferry Maryanto who was arrested two days ago. The question naturally arises – did these two crew members work on the same ship? Did they exchange or trade the same illegal images?

Where Did This Latest Crew Members Work?

Many times. the arrest records don’t identify the name of the cruise line employer or the cruise ship where the crew member lived and worked. Many tens of thousands of crew members read this blog and several ship employees have identified the cruise lines which hired and employed some of the crew members who have been arrested in the past on child pornography charges. (We of course protect their anonymity). We will be asking for assistance once again in learning the identity of the cruise line involved in tis latest crime.

Crackdown On Child Pornography By U.S. and Florida Law Enforcement in South Florida

Considering the high number of crew members who have been arrested on cruise ships in South Florida in the last five months, there appears to be an effort by both state and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute people who possess and transport child pornography (and bestiality videos) on cruise ships. It is likely that once law enforcement seizes a crew member’s iPhone and/or computer, they obtain evidence such as social media sites and internet transmissions which share child pornography and/or bestiality images implicating a wide number of ship employees. Some of these crew members work on the same cruise ship and may trade and/or exchange images.

It also seems clear to me that federal and state law enforcement authorities are working with agencies which use state-of-the-art surveillance software where experts monitor child pornography and file-sharing sites to develop a massive international database to catch those who possess and share child abuse images. Read: Inside the Surveillance Software Tracking Child Porn Offenders Across the Globe

Are Cruise Employers Doing Anything to Address the Illegal Conduct?

There remains the fundamental issue whether cruise employers are taking any steps to prohibit child pornography on their ships.

First of all, it is clear in reviewing the arrest reports and/or probable cause affidavits that the cruise lines do not monitor the computers or cell phone of their ship employees. We have never read, for example, that a cruise line has ever informed law enforcement that a ship employee has been caught with child pornography.

I have asked crew members to explain whether the cruise lines have rules and regulations (in a company handbook or in the “Master’s Rules”) regarding the issue of child pornography (i.e., it is against the cruise line’s policies and will lead to termination, plus an explanation why it’s illegal, why it’s unlawful, and the serious risks which ship employees face (arrest, criminal prosecution and fines, potential jail sentences and being classified as a sexual criminal).

So far, two crew members have explained the policy of Disney Cruise Line. One Disney crew member told me the following:

“In response to your question, since the arrests Disney has done town hall meeting (mandatory crew assembly) where top management from shore side have talked about the arrests and have gone over that it is illegal and that they will report to all levels of law enforcement if they catch any illegal activity on the DCL internet, they also talked about how other activities (ie. sexual harassment on anyone not just minors) and threats and assaults will all be handed over to law enforcement). All crew who come back for another contract will hear the same message each sign on and in HR training in the first week it is talked about how it is automatic termination if caught going anywhere by yourself (with a minor you must always have 2 crew members). During training and once a year crew members get a class on avoiding sexual harassment and abuse which goes over disciplinary actions. “

I get the impression that Carnival and Royal Caribbean, on the other hand, don’t devote any time, effort or energy in educating and training its crew members regarding this serious problem. So far, no employees of Carnival or Royal Caribbean have offered any explanation whether they receive training or instruction, notwithstanding the fact that numerous ship employees from both companies have been arrested for possessing child abuse images of very young children.

Where Will This End?

Will cruise lines (other than Disney) take this problem seriously and train their crew members?

My bet is that child protection agencies know the identity of additional crew members on cruise ships calling on South Florida who have downloaded or purchased illegal images. These agencies are probably coordinating with law enforcement to apprehend them when the ships where they work return to U.S. ports.

Stay tuned.

Have a comment or question? Please leave one below or join the discussion on our Facebook page.

Interested in this issue? Read: Cruise Ship Employee Arrested at PortMiami on Multiple Counts Involving Child Porngraphy

Image credit: Ferry Maryanto – Mugshot Zone and Local10 News.