Introduction
Imagine
this, you disembark on a cruise for a week with your family, expecting to have
good fun on the high seas. One night
while on the open seas you go back to your cabin to get ready for a fancy
dinner and you discover that your favorite Rolex watch is missing. At first you think that you might have
misplaced it, but upon closer inspection, that is not the only valuable item
missing. You have been robbed while
trying to have a relaxing time with your family! Cruise ship crimes are exactly what they sound
like, crimes committed while on a cruise ship.
While crimes like this are uncommon, you may never know when you may be
the unlucky victim. To fix this there
have been significant increases in security on and around cruise ships. However, before we are able to understand how
the solutions already in place work, we must first gain a better understanding
of it by looking into its history and social effects along with some cases that
have already taken place.
History
Major cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and
Carnival have been around since 1970, give or take a couple years, and, as one
would imagine, crimes have most likely been happening on cruise ships just as
long (Rodrigue, Ch11). However, because
every cruise ship is registered in a foreign country where labor laws are lax
so that they can have cheap labor, this also means that they did not have to
report any crimes that happened on the ships to the American government
(Ch11). This was changed when the Cruise
Vessel Security and Safety Act, or the CVSSA for short, was passed in 2010
(Renee). The CVSSA made reports of known
criminal activity that occurs on the ship mandatory (1). Since cruise lines were not legally required
to report crimes to any American government agency prior to the passing of the
CVSSA, it is incredulously hard to get
even an estimation how many crimes happened between the start of commercial
cruising and 2010. However, after a
personal analysis multiple CVSSA statistical compilations from the year 2010 to
2018, it became evident that the number of crimes committed on cruise ships is
not based on anything other than the whim of a potential felon (CVSSA).
Societal
Effects
This
epidemic has implications on two drastically different levels of society:
personal and international. The effects
that crimes committed on cruises have on the individual vary from case to case,
based on what the crime is. For
instance, let us take the fictional example set up in the introduction where
you just realize that you have been robbed.
In this example you are the part of society that has been effected
through a relatively minor loss of net worth and a potential loss of
sentimental items. In this instance, the
overall impact is relatively small.
Another case with a slightly more severe impact would be assault,
potentially brought upon by an irritated drunkard. Depending on how drunk, irritated, and strong
the said drunkard is, the impact could be anywhere from a few almost
unnoticeable bruises and scratches to broken bones and, in extreme and exceedingly rare cases, death.
While there are more cases with different effects, these two cases cover
the entire spectrum of potential severity that cruise crimes can have on a
personal social level.
The effects
that crimes committed on cruises have on the international social level, unlike
on the personal level, varies an insignificant amount from case to case. Most crimes committed on cruise ships with
Americans involved can be considered international affairs because of the
aforementioned fact that every cruise ship is registered in a foreign country
(Rodrigue). Where the ship is when the
crime happens influences which countries are involved in the international
affair (Renee). The effects this has on
the international level are relatively small, as it only puts a minimal strain
on relations of the countries involved as the involved nations only have to
find a way for their law enforcements to cooperate under each nations laws to a
satisfactory means. Other than that
there are no other major international social effects.
Examples of
Cruise Ship Crimes
With the
number of separate cruises that have happened over the past thirty eight years,
there are hundreds of crimes that have been reported to the media, making
finding examples of this epidemic more than easy. However, for the purposes of this paper we
will be looking at an example from before the CVSSA was passed and an example
from after the CVSSA was enacted in 2010.
In 1997 a
woman accused a Carnival waiter of raping her (Frantz). In this case the victim was on the cruise
ship with her husband for a seven day vacation to various locations around the
Caribbean Sea to celebrate her and her husband’s tenth anniversary (1). Despite her husband being around, the
waiter, Ashton Sylvester, was able to
rape her because he supposedly drugged their drinks so he could later go to
their cabin while the were entirely unconscious (1). When the incident was reported to the
authorities on the cruise ship, the cruise line subtly began to bribe the couple
by moving them to a better room free of charge for the rest of their vacation
(1). At the next port the cruise ship
stopped at in San Juan, Puerto Rico the couple reported the incident to the
local authorities who responded by giving them the FBI’s number and telling
them to call the FBI (1). Despite this
recommendation, the couple never contacted the FBI (1). After returning home from their ruined
anniversary vacation, they filed a civil suit against Carnival, but it was
settled for some undisclosed amount of financial compensation under a
confidentiality agreement (1).
In the
February of 2018 several guests were removed from a Carnival cruise ship for
starting multiple fights over the course of a ten day cruise (Renee). All of the passengers that were instigating
the brawls were part the same extended family (1). The security officers on board the Carnival
cruise ship responded by forcing the violent family members into submission
before placing them on a smaller boat that was to go to the port ahead of the
cruise ship (1). The peaceful members of
the family decided to go with their relatives on the smaller boat (1). None of the other passengers pressed charges
against the family, but that still does not make these fights any less of a
crime (1).
Solutions
Due to
numerous factors that contribute to cruise ship crimes and attempts to solve
this epidemic - such as human nature, the desire for privacy, what cruise lines
are willing to spend, and the politics of enforcing international laws - it will
be nearly impossible to totally and completely stop this epidemic. While it may be impossible to stop, there are
solutions that have been put in place to greatly deter crimes from happening on
cruise ships and help victims of this epidemic find justice.
On thing
that the cruise industry has done to help decrease the number of crimes on
cruise ships is implement security measures in ports. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11 security
not only increased in airports, but also in cruise ship terminals (Gerson, 1).
The security in cruise ship terminals was increased to level 3 security
(1). Level 3 security measures at cruise
ship terminals include, but are not limited to, examination of passengers’
personal belongings, all cruise ships and similar vessels must give a three day
heads up before entering the port, intensive examination of passengers’
identification and passenger list, and the reporting of any person who is
listed under the “Prevent Departure” list of the U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization service (1). While all of
this may sound a bit invasive into your private life, there is no need to fear
because in actuality, it is very similar to airport security with the only
major difference being that it is usually faster. As a matter of fact, a cruise terminal’s
security checkpoint is more secure than an airport’s security checkpoint
because at a cruise terminal the security staff is able to perform security
checks on all passengers and carry on luggage due to the fact that there are
less people going through a cruise terminal security checkpoint at any given
time than an average airport security checkpoint (Gerson, 1). This also makes it so that %100 of the
luggage checked at a cruise terminal is able to be x-rayed, as opposed to the
%10 to %20 of the luggage checked at an airport that is x-rayed (1). With this many security measures before you
even get on the cruise ship it is hard to believe that crimes on cruise ships
is even considered an epidemic.
After
boarding the cruise vessel, there are even more security measures in place to
help protect you from becoming a victim of a crime committed on the cruise
ship. The increase to Level 3 security
also affected security on the cruise ships themselves. Some of the Level 3 security measures
include, but are not limited to, limiting access to rooms with important
equipment such as the bridge and engine room, the dissuasion of prohibited
entry and illegal activities in general, creating and sustaining a one hundred
yard security area around the ship whenever possible, and implementing a three
hundred foot “no-float zone” around the ship (Gerson, 1). The CVSSA also made surveillance mandatory on
certain areas of cruise ships including, but not limited to, corridors, areas
where the ship is boarded, in the entryways of “crew only” areas, machinery
rooms, pool areas, public rooms, and the promenade deck (1). Having cameras in these areas provides the
best chances of deterring and catching felons while also not invading anyone’s
privacy. Cruise ships also have a
med-bay and a security team onboard to help prevent and handle minor
transgressions until the proper authorities can handle the situation if the
need arises. Yet, even with all of these
security measures in place, there is still one thing you should always do that
will greatly decrease you and your family’s chances of becoming a victim to
cruise ship crimes, be cautious and aware (Gerson, 1). Despite it being a vacation for relaxation,
you need to remain cautions, because if you become to relaxed you make yourself
much more vulnerable to crime. It is
always a good idea to be aware of where everyone in your party is at any given
time as the long range communication that we have become accustomed to is
non-existent unless you bring walkie-talkies or buy some on ship chat app
(Gerson, 1). This makes it so that in
case of personal emergency, you know where to find the other members of your
group (1). It is also a good idea to be
cautious of other people even after becoming short term friends with them as
you can never know what they have been going through or how mentally stable
they are (1). So long as you follow all
the rules and heed these suggestions, you will minimize your chances of
becoming a victim to a crime on a cruise ship.
Camus and
Absurdity
Before
we can understand how Camus’s belief of absurdity relates to cruise ship
crimes, we must first have a basic understanding of absurdity. Camus found the absurd in our relatively
mundane and monotonous lifestyle of routine.
Everyday we follow some basic routine such as wake up, eat, go to work,
eat, continue working, go home, eat, go to sleep, repeat. Camus started asking to what end do we do
this, to gain wealth for happy retirement only to die? Afterall, the only assured thing in life is death,
so why do we strive to keep on surviving?
If we wish to live however we want, why not break the rules to get
that? In other words, the basic belief
of absurdity as interpreted in this report is “Why care about what actions we
take if it all leads to the common endpoint of death?”. However despite this foreboding question,
absurdity also says that the only truly illogical action is suicide (Aronson,
1). Now that we have a basic
understanding of absurdity, we can see how it applies to cruise ship crimes. Camus’s beliefs are incredibly relevant the
epidemic of cruise ship crimes, but not on the side of their prevention. Absurdity seems to say that because is no
moral truth there can be nothing wrong nor right with a person committing
crimes, wherever they may be. Absurdity
seems to say that “crimes” are a fact of life and that there is nothing making
you any less likely to commit a crime than the person next to you. Camus would say that the outcomes of this
epidemic are meaningless as none are suicide and we will all end up dead just
the same.
Conclusion
Now that
you have a better understanding of cruise ship crimes after looking into some
specific cases, what impacts it has on various social levels, and the general
history of the epidemic, you are able to understand how the solutions in place
work. The increase of security deters,
or even prevent, crime and helps convict the people who have done others
wrong. So while crimes committed before
the security was increased were uncommon, after the increase in security such
crimes have become even more rare, giving you little reason to worry about this
epidemic.
Works Cited
Aronson, Ronald. “Albert Camus.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
Stanford University, 10 Apr. 2017, plato.stanford.edu/entries/camus/.
“CVSSA Statistical Compilation.”
Transportation.gov, U.S. Department of Transportation, https://search.usa.gov/search?affiliate=usdot&page=1&query=cvssa+compilation&utf8=%E2%9C%93.
Frantz, Douglas. “On Cruise Ships,
Silence Shrouds Crimes.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Nov. 1998, archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/national/111698cruise-ship-crime.html.
Gerson, Philip, and Edward Schwartz.
“Cruise Ship Safety and Security Measures.” Gerson
& Schwartz P.A. , Gerson & Schwartz, www.injuryattorneyfla.com/cruise-ship-safety-and-security-measures.html.
Renee, Alexa. “What Legal
Protections Are There for Crimes Committed on Cruise Ships?” abc10, KXTV, 20
Feb. 2018, www.abc10.com/article/news/local/what-legal-protections-are-there-for-crimes-committed-on-cruise-ships/103-520771880.
Rodrigue, J-P et al. (2017) The
Geography of Transport Systems, Hofstra University, Department of Global
Studies & Geography, https://transportgeography.org.
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