Today the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will conduct a hearing on whether there needs to be greater Congressional oversight of the cruise industry in light of recent cruise ships mishaps. 

There are two recent examples of cruise line conduct which the committee should consider in determining whether Congress should take a closer eye

A new "super-fast" cruise ferry service between Miami and Bimini, the Bahamas started off on the wrong foot when the ship flunked U.S. Coast Guard requirements. The Resorts World’s Bimini SuperFast was suppose to sail passengers from Miami over to a new gambling resort in Bimini.

On June 28th the wife of the Bahamian Prime Minister

A police officer in Nassau, Bahamas finds himself in the middle of a controversy regarding another botched investigation by the Bahamas into a Bahamian-flagged cruise ship matter.    

Nassau police superintendent Paul Rolle is quoted in an article in the Nassau Guardian about the molestation of an 11 year old girl by a 33

In an exclusive story, Cruise Line News has learned that cruise industry giant Carnival Corporation recently incorporated its business in the United States (in the state of Delaware). Carnival intends to announce this historic development tomorrow, April 2nd, at Carnival’s headquarters in Miami.

Since 1972, Carnival has incorporated its business and registered its cruise ships in

Cunard’s three cruise ships, Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth, will no longer fly the Union Jack.

After 171 years of flying the Union Jack with Southampton painted on the stern, Cunard’s cruise ships will now be registered in Bermuda and will bear the name Hamilton – Bermuda’s capital. 

The question arises

Every so often we receive an email or telephone call from someone asking why cruise ships can’t sail from one U.S. port to another. 

The reason is because there is a Federal law which prohibits foreign flagged ships from coastwise trade between U.S. ports.  Only U.S. flagged ship can do that.  The thought at one time was that

The Juneau Empire published an interesting article this morning about how the cruise industry routinely ignores a U.S. law requiring the use of U.S. longshore workers to perform certain duties, such as operating tender boats and handling cargo and luggage.   

The newspaper reports that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) plans to picket today over the practice of the cruise lines which refuse to utilize

Panama Flag of ConvenienceA reader of Cruise Law News (CLN) brought an excellent opinion piece from the New York Times regarding the shipping industry’s use of "flags of convenience" to my attention.  Entitled "Flying the Flag, Fleeing the State" and written by Rose George, the article explains how unscrupulous ship owners evade responsibility for environmental damage, exploitative labor and unsafe work conditions, and criminal