Are Cruise Lines Using Advertising Dollars to Limit Freedom of the Press & Bribe the Media into Not Covering Security Problems

In an ongoing effort to avoid regulations, taxation and negative publicity, the Cruise Lines continue to wage war against the government and the media. They have used lobbyists related to the Abramoff scandal to spend millions of dollars lobbying Congress. cruiselinelobbyistrelatedtoabramoff.blogspot.com/ They and their employees contribute millions of dollars to the same candidates. safecruise.blogspot.com/2005_12_01 They keep information and statistics secret concerning crimes, assaults, deaths, accidents, and disease from the government and victim's families. They incorporate and flag their ships in poor third world countries to avoid health, safety, security, and envirionmental rules. The worst being Royal Caribbean whose fees paid to Liberia helped finance Dictator Charles Taylor's Reign of Terror and mass murder. safecruise.blogspot.com/2006_04_01 Now it appears they have used their advertising dollars to limit freedom of the press and pressure the media to stop covering their serious safety and security problems. 62 people overboard since the year 2000. Hundreds of sexual assaults, most not reported and few if any prosecuted. Will Congress and the media continue to allow this type of cover-up, sit on the evidence and ignore the red flags like they did with the Mark Foley page sex scandal? The lives of cruise ship passengers are at stake as well as the mental and physical health of the hundreds of women who have been or will be assaulted on cruise ships whether as passengers or crewmembers. If they back down and bow to the pressure of the cruiselines like Mort Zuckerman at the New York Daily News, our wives and children and female crew members will never be safe on a cruise vacation.

The New York Post September 13, 2006 by Keith Kelly

Earlier in June, there was a 13-person downsizing that included people from virtually every department, including Caitlin Kelly, a published author and feature writer. She had clashed with editors when a feature on deaths and disappearances aboard cruise ships was killed by higher-ups fearing offending advertisers. Departures from the features department were no rarity, although many seemed to be getting fed up and leaving on their own.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1011Cruise-Ship-ON.html
LOS ANGELES - A retired police sergeant and former television reporter was charged with having a sexual encounter with two 12-year-old boys in a cruise ship spa, authorities said. Roderick Bernsen, 58, was arrested at the Port of Los Angeles Saturday by FBI agents investigating a complaint by the mother of one of the boys, authorities said. He is charged with one count of abusive sexual contact. Bail was set at $850,000 Tuesday during his first appearance in federal court.

www.internationalcruisevictims.org joined Congressman Christopher Shays (R-CT) in Washington, D.C. as he announced the introduction of the Cruise Line Accurate Safety Statistics Act (CLASS Act), which seeks to improve the reporting and handling of cruise ship crimes. We all should contact our congressional delegation to ask for their support of this important legislation known as the Class Act (HR 5707).

Write to your Senators and ask them to support HR 5707

Contact your Congressman and ask them to support HR 5707