Laws of the Sea
MAYHEM
• Death on the High Seas Act of 1920: When a death occurs more than 3 nautical miles from U.S. territory, relatives of the deceased are only entitled to recover the loss of support to themselves—not punitive damages—even if the ship has committed an “egregious act that causes the person’s death.”
• Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010: Passed in the wake of the George Smith IV disappearance, this law seeks to improve cruise passenger safety and, in the event of rape, provide the victim with trained first responders and the ability to speak confidentially to law enforcement, lawyers and victim advocates. The law applies to vessels that provide sleeping berths for more than 250 passengers and arrive or depart from U.S. ports.
• Shipping Act of 1984, 46 U.S.C.A. § § 1701-1720: Cruise ships that depart from U.S. ports owe their passengers a heightened duty of care, basically ensuring they will not suffer physical harm and will arrive safely at their appointed destination. Specifically, this duty of care extends to protecting passengers from assault, rape and other criminal acts by crew members.
• 18 U.S.C. § 7 Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction of the United States: When a crime occurs by or against a U.S. national on the high seas outside the jurisdiction of any country, and the vessel arrives or departs from a U.S. port, then the case may be investigated and tried according to U.S. law.
• Florida Statute 910.006: Florida law enforcement officers have jurisdiction when the suspect or victim of a crime is a resident of Florida or more than half of the paying passengers originally boarded and plan to disembark at a Florida port or the crime could have a “substantial effect” within Florida.
• Cruise Passenger Protection Act of 2013 (proposed): In July, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., held hearings on the need for accurate crime reporting and safety problems. Before the bill came up for a vote, the three major cruise lines—Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian—voluntarily published on their websites a list of crimes that allegedly occurred on their ships.
MEDICAL
• Pub. L. 98-89, § 4(b), 97 Stat. 599-600 (1983): This law repealed the Act of Congress of Aug. 2, 1882—22 Stat. 186—which established the duty of vessels in the late 19th century to hire competent and qualified physicians to tend to their passengers.
• Barbetta v. S/S Bermuda Star (5th U.S. Circuit court of appeals, 1988): Cruise ships are not liable for the malpractice of the physicians they hire. “When a carrier undertakes to employ a doctor aboard ship for its passengers’ convenience, the carrier has a duty to employ a doctor who is competent and duly qualified. If the carrier breaches its duty, it is responsible for its own negligence. If the doctor is negligent in treating a passenger, however, that negligence will not be imputed to the carrier.”
MISADVENTURE
• Shipping Act of 1984, U.S.C. § 1702(6): This act also applies to “man overboard” situations, where the cruise ship owes a duty to perform a reasonable search and rescue. If the passenger cannot be quickly located aboard the ship, the captain must return to the location where the passenger was last seen and search the area. Failure to do so may result in the cruise line’s liability for the passenger’s disappearance.
• International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea: The U.S. Coast Guard requires all ships that take on passengers at U.S. ports to adhere to specific standards regarding crew competency, fire protection, firefighting and lifesaving equipment, navigational safety, watercraft integrity and stability, vessel control, safety management and environmental protection. This applies to all passenger ships using U.S. ports, irrespective of the flag they fly.
• Merchant Marine Act of 1920, better known as The Jones Act (codified on Oct. 6, 2006 as 46 U.S.C. § 30104): Allows injured sailors a jury trial in cases involving negligence on the part of the ship owner, captain or fellow crew members. However, arbitration clauses in the sailors’ contracts often circumvent this long-established right to court access.
For vacationers encountering trouble on cruise ships, U.S. laws may provide little help
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