News Channel 12 WPRI in East Providence, Rhode Island aired a broadcast today about Senator Rockefeller’s newly introduced consumer legislation designed to require the cruise industry to report serious crimes which occur on the high seas.

Channel 12 says that "In the wake of recent horror stories on the high seas, lawmakers have introduced a key bill that could help the estimated 21-million Americans expected to set sail on a cruise ship this year."

Cruise executives boast that cruising is safe and that the cruise lines transparently report all crimes at sea. Unfortunately that’s not true. 

The news station states that "over the last five years, there have been 63 fires on board cruise ships and a total of 44 cruise related collisions."  I checked the actual data at the website of cruise expert Ross Klein and noted that there were actually 61 cruise fires and 52 collisions / allisons during the time period in question.

Among other key provisions introduced by Senator Rockefeller, the proposed Cruise Passenger Protection Act would create a toll-free hotline for consumer complaints, and provide passengers a clear summary of the onerous terms and conditions of the cruise passenger contracts.

Watch the video below. 

CFA: Cruise ship safety improvements