Congress put the cruise industry under the microscope as the industry promised a standardized method for reporting crimes -- whether they occur in U.S. waters or not.
Stung by accusations that it has sought to downplay crime at sea, the cruise industry told Congress Tuesday it has reached a formal agreement with the FBI and the Coast Guard to voluntarily report serious crime aboard ships -- even in waters beyond U.S. territory.
Under the agreement, the 21 cruise lines that are members of the Cruise Lines International Association will call the nearest FBI office ''as soon as possible'' to report homicides, suspicious deaths, passengers overboard, kidnapping, sexual assaults and thefts of more than $10,000.
The FBI, which currently only tracks the cruise ship cases it opens, would keep tabs on all the crime reports and compile an annual report.
A Coast Guard official told Congress the voluntary reporting system would be an ''excellent step'' in tracking cruise ship crime -- an often murky task complicated by the fact most cruise ships fly under foreign flags, thereby limiting U.S. jurisdiction.
''The report . . ., to our knowledge, represents the first disciplined effort to gather serious crime statistics,'' said Rear Adm. Wayne Justice of the Coast Guard.
The cruise line industry maintains that it already reports crimes on board its ships and that the agreement ``standardizes the industry's existing practice.''
But several members of Congress and witnesses -- who testified to cruise industry indifference -- said they are afraid the influential industry is only looking to fend off calls for mandatory oversight.
'Whenever folks in government say, `We're working with the industry,' I get a knot in my stomach,'' said John Hickey, a Miami trial lawyer who once represented cruise lines and now represents passengers and crew members. ``I know this industry. I don't think voluntary is good enough.''
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., who chairs the House Transportation subcommittee on maritime transportation, said he plans to ask all the parties back in six months for a status report.
''It's nice to hear these nice answers, but we need to get things resolved,'' Cummings said, as Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., vowed to hold the industry's ``feet to the fire.''
And Cummings asked the industry to work with groups that represent cruise ship crime victims, calling it a ''glaring error'' not to. Industry officials said they would welcome input from the International Cruise Victims Association, a group started by a man whose daughter went missing on a cruise.
UNRESOLVED CASES
The increased scrutiny comes on the heels of heightened congressional interest in cruise safety, following the unresolved disappearance of several passengers. Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., who convened hearings last year, said he doesn't trust the statistics cruise lines have provided.
Matsui noted that industry executives told Congress last year that Royal Caribbean Cruises reported 66 cases of sexual assault from 2003 to 2005. But she said information in a civil suit showed the number was ``much higher.''
Gary Bald, senior vice president of security for Royal Caribbean, said the company's statistics were accurate, and he called cruises ``one of the safest vacations a person could take.''
''In my opinion, any suggestion to the contrary distorts the truth and ignores the facts,'' he said.
One of Matsui's constituents, Laurie Dishman, 36, of Sacramento, broke down as she told lawmakers that she was raped by a cruise ship employee last year aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Mexican Riviera. She said she felt ''raped again'' when the ship's doctor told her and a friend to return to her cabin and collect evidence of the rape themselves.
FEELING ABANDONED
''The feeling was like no one was helping me,'' Dishman said. ``They were trying to protect themselves.''
Bald apologized for Dishman's treatment, saying the cruise line ''came up short.'' He said the cruise line immediately took her complaint to the FBI but did fail to ''adequately secure'' the cabin.
He said the cruise line has made several changes as a result, including improving training of staffers.
Terry Dale, president of Cruise Lines International, the industry group, said all ships are equipped with security officers and that more than 55 percent of cruise passengers are repeat customers.
''We must be doing something right,'' he said.
