PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--International Cruise Victims Association (ICV), an all-volunteer victim advocacy group which started in January of 2006 with just four families, is now celebrating its 10th anniversary. This organization now has hundreds of members in 25 countries around the world, was formed out of the need for increased safety and security of cruise ship passengers, and provides support to victims. The cruise industry is chiefly regulated not by U.S. laws but by smaller countries, such as the Bahamas or Panama, and others who have minimal capacity of oversight.
Without the efforts of ICV, little would be known of the need for improved safety regulations. The public is largely unaware of the many deficiencies in public safety on cruise ships, such as the fact that while airlines carrying only a few hundred passengers have government sky marshals onboard, cruise ships, which are like floating cities, have no independent police to protect the passengers. According to Dr. Ross Klein, during 2015, 27 passengers went overboard; most were never recovered. Sexual assaults frequently occur (1/3 of these offenses against minors, according to a 2013 Senate Hearing), and often no action is taken. Any robbery under $10,000 is not even required to be reported or investigated.
ICV volunteer members have taken on these issues. Our personal involvement with this industry and how it operates has led our members to Washington, D.C., to promote legislation such as the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, passed in 2010, which addresses various safety concerns.
Sadly, the industry, since 2006, while paying hardly any federal taxes, has spent over $38,000,000 lobbying against any legislation which would require increased safety and security, according to Kendall Carver, chairman of ICV. Since then, Congress has held eight hearings addressing serious concerns with the operations of this foreign industry on American soil and territorial waters. At the last Senate Hearing in July of 2014, Senator Jay Rockefeller raised the question of why this industry doesn’t just do the right thing instead of avoiding these issues by the use of extensive lobbying.
ICV was started because of the cruise industry’s Teflon-like policy regarding passenger safety, care and treatment. Having no paid staff and only the passion of its membership, victims and friends, ICV has made considerable progress. Having no source of income other than the deeply appreciated contributions from our friends and members, ICV is determined to continue to pursue justice for victims and rights for passengers with a renewed energy and sense of commitment to our goals, especially in this, the tenth year of our service and devotion.
