Thursday, June 26, 2008
Senate holds hearing on cruise line safety
A Senate subcommittee listened to testimony last week to ascertain if Congress should take a larger role to ensure passenger safety on cruise ships.
Current law does not require cruise lines to report crimes that occur outside U.S. territorial waters, Sen. John Kerry, D-MA, said at a June 19 hearing of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee's Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security Subcommittee.
Kendall Carver, co-founder and president of the Sammamish, WA-based International Cruise Victims Association, chided the cruise ship industry for not following up on its own policy of zero tolerance for crimes. Carver's daughter disappeared from a cruise ship in 2004.
Terry Dale, president and CEO of the Fort Lauderdale, FL-based Cruise Lines International Association, insisted that the industry has been "reporting all incidents – even allegations – and this reporting system is working well."
Kerry, however, noted such reporting was the result of a voluntary agreement between the FBI, the U.S. Coast Guard and the cruise ship industry. "I'm suspicious of any agreement that has the industry voluntarily reporting on incidents that damage their reputation," he said.