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Several passengers aboard the Royal Princess cruise ship have informed Cruise Law News that a passenger fell from an upper deck and struck a lifeboat last night.

One passenger, who wishes to remain anonymous, stated:

“A women on royal princess princess cruise line was pushed or fell from the lido 15th or 16th deck onto the top of  life boat #2 at 4 am in the morning. She died instantly. Once the ship arrived into Aruba, authorities boarded the ship. Outcome of investigation is unknown. Passengers said the scene was gruesome.”

Passenger were first alerted to the incident when they heard an announcement around 4:30 a.m. for the security team to respond to deck 7 underneath lifeboat number 2. When the cruise ship arrived at port in Aruba, the captain made an announcement that the crime scene investigators were coming on board and no one would be allowed to get off until they cleared the ship.

Mas Noticia refers to the incident as a “possible murder.”

Last July (of 2017), the FBI arrested the husband of a  a 39-year-old woman who was murdered aboard the Emerald Princess operated by Princess Cruises in Alaska. Earlier this year, the boyfriend of a 50 year-old woman was arrested for murder aboard the Carnival Elation after he threw her off their balcony to a lifeboat below. Last month a passenger was arrested after he tried to throw his partner off of the Radiance of the Seas in Australia.

Is a cruise ship a perfect place to commit a crime?

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

Update: Diario.aw reports that a “muscular” man was struggling/fighting with the woman, and suddenly began choking her. After that, he reportedly pushed her over the railing. She fell on lifeboat #2, destroying the windows on the lifeboat as well. The authorities in Aruba will perform an autopsy, to determine whether the man killed her first (by choking her) or she died because of the fall.

November 15, 2018 Update: Local 10 News (Miami): “FBI investigating after woman dies aboard cruise ship en route to Aruba.” Finally, the U.S. press cover this disturbing, apparent rime.

November 16, 2018 Update: Numerous newspapers are now reporting on the apparent murder, including the U.K.’s Mail Online (photo above right).

Photo credit: Barry Skeates – via Flickr, CC BY 2.0, commons / wikimedia.

According to ABC News in Australia, a cruise passenger was arrested after he tried to throw his partner overboard from Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas.

According to the Mercury newspaper, witnesses heard screaming followed by an emergency alarm.

The Daily Mail identified the cruise passenger as David James Fysh.  According to the Epoch Times,  a fellow passenger commented on the Tasmania Police Facebook page that the woman was covered with bruises.

The incident, which the police in the next port of call in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia called a “family violence incident,” reportedly occurred last night around 3:30 a.m. The police boarded the cruise ship this morning in Hobart, arrested a 46 year-old man from Queensland and charged him with attempted murder.

The man appeared in the court in Hobart this afternoon and was remanded into police custody.

Domestic disturbances of this type occur more frequently than the cruise lines would like to admit.

Just last week, a cruise passenger assaulted his girlfriend and choked her until she passed out during a cruise to the Bahamas on an unidentified cruise ship. Two weeks ago, a woman slashed / stabbed her boyfriend with a steak knife aboard the Carnival Fantasy. Last month, another Carnival cruise passenger was indicted for throwing his girlfriend from the couple’s balcony on the 14th deck down down to the 11th deck on the Carnival Elation which sailed from Jacksonville to Freeport in the Bahamas.

The most recent publicized incident involved a husband who murdered his wife aboard the Emerald Princess during a cruise to Alaska last year.

We have written about cruise ship murders (typically of women) during cruises in the past.

Join the discussion on our Facebook page.

Photo credit: Bahnfrend – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons / wikimedia.

Yesterday, a man from Topeka, Kansas was arraigned in United States District Court on charges of murdering his wife during a Carnival cruise earlier this year.

On January 19, 2018, a passenger on the Carnival Elation sent us photographs of the couple’s cabin and the area where the woman fell to her death. You can see the photographs here.

The woman reportedly died after she fell from her balcony on the 14th deck down to the 11th deck on the Carnival cruise ship which has sailed from Jacksonville to Freeport, in the Bahamas.

In our article at the time, we mentioned that a passenger reportedly was seen handcuffed after the incident. Police from Freeport boarded the cruise ship after the fatality.

The U.S. Department of Justice identified  Eric Newman, age 53, of Topeka, Kansas and charged him with murdering his wife,  Tamara Tucker, age 50, of Lawson, Missouri (photo below). The DOJ press release does not mention any details regarding the murder (I have not yet reviewed the on line court file).

The last domestic murder case on a cruise ship occurred on the Emerald Princess last summer.  The United States District Court for the District of Alaska recently announced that the case against Kenneth Manzanares will go on trial in May of next year.

The last murder of a passenger on this particular Carnival cruise ship, the Carnival Elation, occurred in 2011 when a drunken passenger killed his wife during a cruise to Mexico.  We have written about other cruise ship murders (typically of women) during cruises in the past.

Join the discussion on our Facebook page. 

September 10, 2018 Update: The U.S. government filed a “sealed” indictment against Eric Newman, which mean that the usual FBI affidavits and/or other information will not be revealed to the public at this time.  The court records indicate that Mr. Newman is accused of murdering Tamara Tucker with “malice aforethought.” Ms. Tucker has been described in new accounts as Mr. Newman’s long term girlfriend.

September 18, 2018 Update: Mr. Newman is free on bond after a detention hearing in Federal Court today. A spokesman for the federal government says Newman is free on a $50,000 bond, and under house arrest pending what could be months before a trial, according to KSNT.com.

Carnival Elation (top) – anonymous; Eric and Tamara Newman (in happier times)(above) – Facebook.

NassauThe United States Department of State has again listed the crime threat in the Bahamas as "critical" and warned U.S. tourists to take safety measures while visiting the country.

The warning was issued by the U.S. Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) which just published the the Bahamas 2018 Crime & Safety Report. 

Like other U.S. warnings about the Bahamas, this latest warning primarily involves Nassau (New Providence), not the "outer islands" not frequented by cruise ships. The OSAC estimates that there are approximately 370,000 people living in the Bahamas, with around 70% (around 250,000-260,000) of the population residing in crime-filled New Providence. Another another 15% (55,000) live on Grand Bahama. The rest of the population is dispersed over numerous islands (commonly referred to as the “Family Islands”), where crime is substantially less than in Nassau.

We reported on three prior warnings in the last thirty days by the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Nassau as well as by Canada.   

The per capita murder and rape rates for the Bahamas as a whole are drastically higher than any port city in the United States. 

The Nassau Guardian covered the latest U.S. warning. 

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

Photo credit: NASA – Public Domain, commons / wikimedia.

The U.S. Embassy in Nassau, Bahamas issued a new crime warning for the city following the assault of a U.S. citizen during the early evening hours of February 6, 2018, while jogging on West Bay Street just west of Goodman’s Bay Park.

This is an area around two miles west of the cruise port and downtown and east of the popular Cable Beach.

The Embassy urged that caution should be used in all areas of New Providence while traveling by foot Nassau Bahamas Crime Warningafter dark.

The Bahamas Tribune covered the new crime warning today.

The United States State Department issued its last crime warning for the Bahamas on January 10, 2018, which states, in part:

“Exercise increased caution in The Bahamas due to crime.

Violent crime, such as burglaries, armed robberies, and sexual assault is common, even during daylight hours and in tourist areas. U.S. government personnel are not permitted to visit the Sand Trap area in Nassau due to crime. Jet-ski operators are known to commit sexual assaults against tourists, including minors. As a result, U.S. government personnel are not permitted to use jet-ski rentals on New Providence and Paradise Islands.”

The U.S. government has issued more crime warnings for the Bahamas than for all locations in the Caribbean.

The common response from the Bahamian tourism officials to these warning is to suggest that Nassau is safe compared to major American cities like Chicago or New York.

But the per capita murder rate in the country of the Bahamas is much higher than the per capita rate in Chicago and many, many times higher than the per capita rate in New York City. In the U.S., the per capita murder rate is a little over 4 per 100,000; in the Bahamas, the rate is around 40 per 100,000.

Most cruise tourists don’t understand that the murder, rape and crime rates per capita are much higher in the Bahamas, particularly in Nassau, than anywhere the tourists are from.

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

Adriana Morales de FlorencioThe killer of Royal Caribbean crew member Adriana Morales de Florencia was sentenced to prison for her murder. There is a conflict in the reporting whether the sentence was for 22 years or 17 years. 

In April of 2017, Ms. Morales was reported missing on the island of Bonaire after disembarking for Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas, as we reported last year.  She was from Mexico and had worked for Royal Caribbean for less than two contracts. She did not return to the cruise ship after going ashore in the port of Kralendijk last year. Her body was found buried and it was established that she died by stab wounds. A suspect was later identified by a surveillance film. 

Newspaper accounts in Bonaire identified a man who met Ms. Morales shortly after she left the cruise ship. He has been identified only through an acronym; some accounts refer to him as "Raysley S." According to newspapers in Bonaire, the prosecutor presented aggravating circumstances during the sentencing. The computer data  showed that in the days before and after the killing, he looked at extremely violent pornographic films and photographs.

Another article posted this week indicated that the judge sentenced the defendant to just 17 years in jail.

Photo credit: De Telegraaf

Canada recently issued a new crime advisory for the Bahamas, warning its citizens to exercise a high degree of caution when traveling there due to high rates of crime, including a reported increase of sexual assaults against tourists. 

Canada’s website advisory was updated last week to state that sexual assaults occur regularly, primarily in New Providence (Nassau) and on Grand Bahama (Freeport):  

"Crime, including violent crime, occurs mainly on the islands of New Providence and Grand Bahama. There has been an increase in muggings, armed robberies, home invasions and sexual assault targeting tourists in the cities of Nassau and Freeport. Incidents of robbery take place in cruise ship Nassau Bahamas Cruise Terminalterminals and in and around popular resort areas, even in daylight hours. If you are threatened by robbers, stay calm and do not resist. Avoid non-tourist neighbourhoods in downtown Nassau, especially at night, where the crime accounts for much of Bahamas’ high murder rate. 

Sexual assault occurs frequently, particularly near hotels, in hotel rooms, in casinos, on cruise ships and on the beach. Avoid excessive consumption of alcohol, do not consume any drugs and don’t accept rides from strangers or from unlicensed taxi drivers. Due to incidents of sexual assault, it is recommended to be wary when embarking on jet-ski rides with licensed or unlicensed operators."

Two weeks ago, we wrote about the U.S. warning to its citizens to exercise a high degree of caution while traveling to the Bahamas. 

The Nassau Guardian covered the new advisory for Canadian tourists. The nation’s Tourism Minister downplayed the crime advisory during an interview with the Tribune newspaper, saying that "when I go to London, when I go to Paris, when I go to New York, I probably have just the same likelihood of being a victim of crime."  As I have said before, this is a common although misleading argument. The per capita murder and rape rates in the Bahamas is substantially higher than the per capita rate in the majority of U.S. and European cities. In the U.S., the per capita murder rate is a little over 4 per 100,000; in the Bahamas, the rate is around 40 per 100,000.

Canada has issued critical crime report for the Bahamas several times in the last several years,

We have also written about Canadians residents and citizens becoming victims of horrific violent crimes in the Bahamas. You can read a few of our articles here and here. 

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

Photo credit: Jerrye and Roy Klotz MD CC 3.0 commons / wikipedia.  

According to multiple news sources, the FBI is investigating the death of a 39-year-old woman from Utah aboard the Emerald Princess operated by Princess Cruises in Alaska.

The woman reportedly died aboard he Princess cruise ship after a "domestic dispute" leading to her "suspicious" death.

The cruise ship was diverted to Juneau, Alaska because of the criminal investigation, according to ABC News.

The FBI has special maritine jurisdiction to investigate crime at sea whenever a U.S. citizen is a victim or the assailant. 

July 27, 2017 Update: TIME magazine reports that the the U.S. attorney’s office will hold a news conference later today with representatives of the FBI and Coast Guard in Anchorage to announce the filing of federal criminal charges against the suspect arrested yesterday by the FBI.

Jully 29, 2017 Update: CBS News Couple in Alaska cruise ship murder seemed like "perfect American family."

 Credits: photo KTVA. 

  

Simone Scheuer SousaA week ago, we reported on the disappearance of a crew member from the MSC Musica on June 18, 2017 after the cruise ship left the port of Venice heading to Brindisi, Italy. 

The crew member is from Brazil, named Simone Souza Scheuer.

Today, the Italian newspaper Venezia Today reports that a murder investigation was opened by the criminal prosecutor in Brindisi, where the cruise ship ported after her disappearance. The article says that the offices of prosecutor Stefano De Milto Weddle acquired video footage from inside of the cruise ship and interviewed friends and co-workers on the ship. Other crew members have stated that the missing crew member had a disagreement with her supervisor and ended a two-year relationship with a co-worker. The news accounts did not mention a particular suspect in the woman’s disappearance. 

The Chi l’ha Visto television program, which looked into the disappearance of an Italian crew member from a Princess Cruises ship a number of years ago, aired a special program into the crew member’s disappearance.  

The last time that a woman disappeared from a MSC cruise ship was in February when a passenger disappeared from the MSC Magnifica.

Unfortunately, cruise lines like MSC fail to utilize the latest in automatic man overboard technology. Many say that a cruise ship is a perfect location for a murder, particularly when there are few automatic man overboard cameras installed on ships which would document and, possibly, deter criminal activity. The majority of mysterious disappearances at sea involved young women.

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

 Photo credit: Chi l’ha Visto?

Nassau Bahamas Shooting DeathThis morning, a driver of a minibus, reportedly operated by Stuart Cove Dive shop, was shot and killed in downtown Nassau, Bahamas. The Facebook page of Nassau resident Tellis Virgil‎’s Speak Up Bahamas discussed the incident and includes a photograph of the crime scene. 

Stuart Cove’s Dive Bahamas is described as "Nassau’s leading full service dive resort."

Five cruise ships are in the port of Nassau today: Carnival Pride, Carnival Elation, Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas, Norwegian Sky and Norwegian Breakaway. 

The Tribune newspaper in Nassau reports that police "were called to the scene of the shooting at East Street North, near Prince George Wharf around 7am where they discovered the body of an adult male by a Stuart Cove’s minibus parked near The Crew Pub and entrance to the cruise port." 

It is currently unknown exactly when the five cruise ships arrived at the port and disembarked passengers ashore. Several of the ships disembarked their passengers after 7:00 a.m., if this is in fact when the shooting occurred. But many people commented that tourists were waiting to board the minibus when the shooting took place.

One of the comments to the Tribune article expressed concern that the "man was murdered on the doorstep of our cruise ship industry in broad daylight." Other people voiced their concerns on the Speak Up Bahamas Facebook page of the impact of this crime on Nassau. Several people commented that there are already two police officers from the Royal Bahamian Police Force on virtually every street corner in downtown Nassau to try and deter crimes which may affect tourists.  

Cruise Law News has repeatedly reported on the high crime rate in this port city.  The murder rate in Nassau is around 8 to 10 times higher than the U.S. murder rate per 100,000. The murder rate in the U.S. is around 4.5 per 100,000; the murder rate of the Bahamas is over 30 per 100,000.  Considering that the vast majority of murders in the Bahamas occur in New Providence where Nassau is located, the murder rate is probably over 40 per 100,000 for Nassau.     

I have been quoted as saying that Nassau is one gunshot away from cruise lines pulling out of Nassau. Nassau is viewed by the Miami-based cruise lines as a convenient deep water port with cheap dockage fares and low passenger head-taxes. But Nassau has been the subject of at least a dozen critical crime warnings by the U.S. State Department and the U.S. embassy in Nassau over the last several years. Cruise lines will probably still continue to call on Nassau because it is a close, money-making port (although it will lose cruise tourists to Cuba over the years to come). But things will drastically change should a cruise passenger become a murder victim in Nassau. 

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

Photo credit: Tellis Virgil‎’s Speak Up Bahamas