Once a cruise ship sails more than 24 miles off the coast of a particular country, it is considered to be in international waters. This means that the laws governing crimes on the ship are determined by the flag under which the ship is sailing. It is not uncommon for a ship to fly its flag in a country other than the one from which it departed. In fact, cruise lines often fly the flag of their ships in countries where laws are less stringent to avoid greater scrutiny. Much has changed on the high seas during this period, which means that these old laws may no longer be relevant or beneficial to passengers and crew members. But without new laws to clarify or modernize the law of the sea, lawyers and their clients will have to wade through the often murky legal waters. Cruise ships are not just ordinary carriers, they are virtual floating cities. However, these floating cities lack basic security policies, protocols, and procedures to protect passengers from damage. In addition, outdated laws and contractual language that restrict rights and remedies put travellers in a precarious position. As one judge noted, the lesson to be learned from more than a hundred years of non-evolving jurisprudence and confusion regarding restrictions on rights and remedies is essentially the following: “If you do not have an accident, do not get sick and expect a cruise holiday without incident, otherwise you will find that your rights and remedies as an aggrieved consumer are governed by outdated legal principles. favour cruise lines to the detriment of cruise passengers. That is, if you are the victim of an accident or injury at sea, you should know that the law is on your side. Feel free to report the crime to the nearest cruise security so that the investigation process can begin as soon as possible.
You can also write down all the evidence and do your part to make sure the right information has been stored to help you when you talk to your shipping lawyer. Whatever crime took place, you want to give yourself the strongest possible foundation for your lawyer to build your legal case. While you may feel safer knowing that the FBI will investigate your case, as you can see, there are many times when this is not possible. Crimes in foreign ports can be one of those moments. If a crime occurs in a foreign port, you must notify Travel Security as soon as possible. The most likely scenario is that local authorities then board the ship to investigate the crime scene, gather evidence and obtain testimony from everyone involved. In some cases, the departure of the cruise from the port may be delayed until the investigation is completed. 32 See Henderson v.
Carnival Corp., 125 F. Supp. 2d 1375, 1377 (S.D. Fla. 2000) (passenger injured on a catamaran trip during a cruise excursion; applied notwithstanding the carnival logo on the shirts of the catamaran and crew members, the exclusion of the cruise ship`s liability on the property or control of the catamaran company); Mashburn v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., 55 F. Supp. 2d 1367, 1370 (S.D. Fla. 1999) (Day trip to Coco Cay Island owned by the cruise line; The passengers rented Sea-Doo, signed a waiver and were injured in an accident; no negligence found); Dubret v. Holland Am. Line Westours, Inc., 25 F.
Supp. 2d 1151, 1153 (W.D. Wash. 1998) (bus accident during a shore excursion; Disclaimer applied). 22 See Benson v Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd., 859 So.2d 1213 (Fla. Ct. App. 2003) (The physician was under personal jurisdiction in Florida under Florida`s Illegal Long-Arm Death Act because the cruise ship was located within Florida`s territorial boundaries); Pota vs. Holtz, 852 Sun.2d 379, 381 (Fla. Ct.
App. 2003) (pregnant passenger complaining of stomach cramps misdiagnosed as cystitis leading to contractions and bleeding, and the cruise line rejects the request for air travel to a hospital on Grand Cayman Island; The passenger, who was not taken to the hospital until after the ship docked, gave birth and the baby died a few hours later; jurisdiction over the ship`s physician on board a ship moored in the port of Florida); Rana v Flynn, 823 Sun.2d 302, 303 (Fla. Ct. App. 2002) (The passenger suffered a heart attack and was treated by the ship`s doctor when the cruise ship sailed in Florida waters and docked in the Port of Miami; Jurisdiction found through the ship`s doctor). There are more complicated issues in the law of the sea than who is responsible for a crime or catastrophic incident at sea with loss of life. Overall, the application of the law of the sea (the laws of the sea) is often left to the authorities at the scene of the incident. At the same time, however, the ship`s flag State is also responsible for investigating the incident. And to make the problem even more complicated, a crime involving a U.S. citizen aboard a cruise ship, regardless of location in the world, also gives the FBI jurisdiction over the case! If you or a loved one has been arrested or investigated for a crime on a cruise ship, or has been the victim of a crime on a cruise ship, you should seriously consider contacting the experienced criminal defense lawyers at Matthew Galluzzo Law Firm. His team of former prosecutors has extensive experience in investigating sexual and physical assault cases.
In fact, Matthew Galluzzo is a former sex crimes lawyer in Manhattan whose opinion on rape investigations has been sought countless times by newspaper and television journalists. In addition, his team has achieved tremendous results in defending against federal sex crimes allegedly committed on international vehicles. Sexual assaults and physical assaults on cruise ships were the top crimes reported and investigated by the FBI on the high seas, at 55 percent and 22 percent, respectively. (These statistics were collected over the five-year period between 2002 and 2007.) Special maritime jurisdiction may apply under 18 U.S. Code Section 7 if a crime is committed by or against a U.S. citizen in a place outside the jurisdiction of a country, and applies to foreign ships that have a port of arrival or departure in the United States. However, it is important to note that when an incident occurs outside of U.S. territorial waters, many other factors play a role in determining the FBI`s investigative role and ability.
In addition to the laws of the United States, the laws of other sovereign nations and international law determine our legal authority to respond to and/or investigate the crime. Because these incidents can affect the citizens or interests of other countries, the FBI`s investigative efforts can affect the sovereignty interests of other nations involved. Addressing these issues requires consultation and coordination within the U.S. government. In other words, if more than one country may have jurisdiction or have an interest in investigating a crime on a cruise ship, those countries must work together to decide who is primarily responsible for the investigation and/or prosecution. Crimes that take place outside the United States in international waters require the cooperation of all countries involved. These include the coordination of investigative efforts, the collection of evidence and agreement on the jurisdiction of all countries concerned. If the FBI obtains permission, it will come aboard the ship as soon as possible after a crime to properly investigate and record all available evidence related to the occurrence. The Jones Act applies to seafarers who suffer bodily injury or death in the course of their employment.
Therefore, the protection of the Jones Act extends to most cruise ship employees, especially those who live and work on board a ship. If injured on board the ship or in the course of their employment with the ship, these seafarers are entitled to medical expenses related to the injury (i.e., healing) as well as living expenses (i.e., maintenance) while the worker recovers. That being said, the ability to recover from the negligence of cruise ships is not impenetrable. Several U.S. courts, recognizing the impracticality and injustice that result from the current situation, have issued landmark decisions on cruise lines` liability to their passengers.
