Scandal on the High Seas? - Congress Holds Hearing on Cruise Ship Safety Amid Assault Allegations

abcnews.go.com

After complaints of onboard assaults, thefts and even mysterious disappearances, Congress investigated today how safe these vacations are. A House Transportation subcommittee conducted a hearing on cruise safety this morning. Congress heard testimony from passengers with stories about poor security, and little accountability, in this $30 billion-a-year industry.

"Until it is more profitable to make the ships safe than to settle lawsuits, I don't believe that all of the necessary changes will come at the hands of the cruise industry," said Susan DiPiero, whose son, Daniel, was lost at sea from Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Sea May 15, 2006. Some lawmakers agreed. "A common theme in this panel was that you still didn't get it," Matsui told cruise line officials. Attorney William Sullivan — whose unnamed client, asleep in her cabin this past March, was allegedly raped by a crew member, and then had ship's doctors give her Lorazepam, a drug that can cause forgetfulness — called on lawmakers to take action. "It doesn't seem to me that Royal Caribbean is interested in prosecuting criminals or predators," Sullivan said, "because it exposes them to liability, and that's not something they're interested in. ... It's time for legislation, time for Congress to step in and mandate."
Orlich just hopes that no other women will be subjected to the same horrors that she was.

"I'm here in Washington," she said, "to help out other women, to make sure it doesn't happen to them." Today, Orlich and other victims had lawmakers aiding their cause.