LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The International Cruise Victims Organization today issued the following statement:
While the International Cruise Victims Organization is grateful for the safe return of all passengers and crew aboard the Royal Caribbean’s ship The Anthem of the Seas, they are horrified by the cruise line’s disregard for their safety.
The battered ship returned Thursday night to the harbor in New Jersey where frightened passengers and crew were only too glad to disembark after being traumatized by a 12-hour storm with winds gusts up to 170 mph and waves reaching three stories high.
“What ICV can’t fathom,” said Jamie Barnett, President of ICV, “Is why a ship’s Master would ignore a weather forecast of such cataclysmic magnitude and sail into that kind of storm.”
An incident like this wouldn't be tolerated in the aviation industry. Airline pilots by law can’t ignore weather forecasts and take off directly into a massive storm. A jet carrying hundreds of passengers wouldn’t just go up “and ride it out,” so why should the cruise industry be excused for doing it?
This action, which put over 6,000 people unnecessarily in harm’s way, could have had a much more disastrous outcome, as was made evident by the Costa Concordia tragedy where 32 people lost their lives or the recent sinking of the El Faro cargo ships where 33 mariners perished.
The least the public should expect is a federal investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and we certainly applaud Florida Senator Bill Nelson’s call for scrutiny, but the real question is who has regulatory and jurisdictional control over these foreign owned, U.S. based cruise companies? The sad truth is that the answer can’t easily be found. There are too many variables when the playing field involves U.S. ports, passengers, international and territorial waters, and ships registered in foreign countries sailing under flags of convenience.
In this specific case, the only meaningful action holding the possibility of justice for the people involved and any charges against the cruise line must come from the country where the ship is registered, The Bahamas. However, it is unlikely this beleaguered country, beholden to the cruise industry for much of its meager economy, is going to slap the very hand that feeds it.
As cruise ships grow bigger in today’s demanding world, so do the dangers. Many vacationers find out too late that even though they boarded a ship in a U.S. port having bought their tickets from a U.S. based company, the laws that provide them with rights and guaranteed regulations as U.S. citizens sailed away as soon as their ship did.
