Cruise ship crime needs urgent international action

Published: 21 November 2011

Date:
21 November 2011

Victim Support is calling on the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to take urgent action to improve the prevention and investigation of crimes on cruise ships.

According to international research, incidents of sexual assault and victimisation are significantly more common on board cruise ships than on land. Figures indicate that the risk of being raped on a cruise ship could be twice that of being raped on land.  There have also been nineteen known cases of people going missing from cruise ships while at sea this year alone.  Because ships are not required to keep a log of incidents, these figures could be the tip of iceberg.

Victim Support is working with Mike and Ann Coriam, whose daughter Rebecca tragically went missing off the Bahamian registered Disney Wonder cruise ship last March, to call for international action. Despite Rebecca being a British citizen working for a British company on board a ship that set sail from a US port, responsibility for the investigation into her disappearance fell to the Bahamian authorities.

In international waters the law of the ship is the law of the country whose flag it flies and responsibility for investigating crimes on board the ship lies with the legal authority of that country.  As a result many victims are left without support and little prospect of securing justice. Victim Support has written to the Secretary General of the IMO calling for urgent action and in support of the Minister of Transport, Mike Penning’s request to formally look at the issue on an international basis.

Javed Khan, Chief Executive of Victim Support, said: "How crime on cruise ships is investigated and victims dealt with, is a hidden scandal with many victims left without protection and little prospect of securing justice.

"With many cruise ships under flags of convenience, the majority of the 1.6 million Britons who holiday and staff who work on them will be unaware of the jurisdiction they are sailing under and the problems this could cause if they become a victim of crime.

"The international community has a crucial role to play, which is why we are calling on the IMO to put in place measures that ensure crimes are properly investigated and victims have access to justice."