Hartford Courant Editor not impressed by CNBC Coverage of Cruise Ship Safety and Security

courant.com/travel
Jeanne Leblanc Coach Class
Travel For Real People
"There was an interesting piece on CNBC, one of those orchestrated debates that pass for news coverage these days, about cruise ship safety. It was interesting mainly for how thoroughly it missed the point...Strangely enough, the piece didn't mention the sinking last month of the Greek ship Sea Diamond, which, though smaller and older than most modern cruise ships, is at least closer to the kind that most American tourists might sail on. [Or that two people died or the fact that over 70 indviduals have died by falling overboard since the year 2000 and most cases go unsolved; no thanks to the incomplete security provided by the cruise lines]
Of course there wasn't any actual reporting on whether a cruise is more dangerous than say, a vacation at a resort on land. And clearly the script didn't call for any meaningful analysis of cruise ship safety, because the host sneered down the travel columnist guest who tried to explain that cruise ships are subject mainly to the laws of the country whose flag they carry. This makes U.S. regulations a little touchy, and an attempt to deal with the way foreign-flagged ships operate may require a closer look at the whole, complicated enchilada.
I think there probably is a good hard look coming at the way that ships carrying U.S. citizens from U.S. ports deal with crime and safety. And I think there ought to be. But it's not an issue that's going to be solved by oversimplification or exaggeration.

The only useful thoughts that emerged from the CNBC piece came from Kendall Carver of the International Cruise Victims Organization. He suggested that cruise ships could carry law enforcement officials, rather like sky marshals, who could independently investigate crimes on board.
That, at least, is something to think about."

Cruise ships are less safe than the cruise industry advertises. Refer to the Testimony By Dr. Ross Klein, Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland before Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation - in March, 2007:

http://transportation.house.gov/hearings/Testimony.aspx?TID=601

See www.projectsafecruise.blogspot.com for a possible solution.

One sailor was killed and another crew member was seriously injured in an accident Monday on cruise ship

ATHENS, Greece: An Indonesian sailor was killed and another crew member was seriously injured in an accident Monday when a cruise ship operated by Cypriot-based Louis Cruise Lines was docking at the holiday island of Mykonos, authorities said. The man was killed when a mooring line snapped, as the Greek-flagged Orient Queen was preparing to leave the island, the Mykonos port authority said. A second Indonesian sailor was hospitalized in serious condition. Louis Cruise Lines also operated the Sea Diamond cruise ship, which sank off the island of Santorini after striking well-marked rocks April 5. Nearly 1,600 people had been evacuated from that boat, while two French tourists remain missing, presumed drowned.
International Herald Tribune

Passengers flee Alaska cruise ship in lifeboats after it runs aground and takes on water

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070514/cruise-ship-aground

A cruise ship ran aground off the Alaska coast early Monday, and more than 200 passengers were being transferred to life boats and other vessels, Coast Guard officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The Empress of the North had 281 passengers and crew members aboard when it sent out an emergency radio message at 12:35 a.m., the Coast Guard said. When Coast Guard helicopters reached the area, the vessel was listing at the southern end of Icy Strait, about 15 miles southwest of Juneau, and it began taking on water, said Petty Officer Christopher D. McLaughlin at the Coast Guard base in Kodiak.
As the ship's pumps worked to remove the water, the passengers were transferred to fishing vessels and other cruise ships in the area. Those passengers and about 130 others who were taken aboard the Coast Guard cutter Liberty were to be transferred to the Alaska state ferry Columbia and taken to Juneau.

100 Individuals Jump Overboard and Eight Passengers Drown because of Violence on Cruise: Government Curbs Operations

www.int.iol.co.za

Dhaka - Last Friday more than 100 people jumped overboard to avoid allegedly drunken passengers fighting over women, leaving eight people drowned. Bangladesh on Sunday announced a crackdown on pleasure cruises after eight people died following an on-board brawl. "We imposed the curb after last week's tragedy," said Motahar Hossain, a senior official of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority.