Senator Blumenthal seeks more protection for passengers

Serious cruise safety incidents are not limited to sexual assaults. For a long time, incidents of “human negligence”, theft and even murders have been the reality of these sailings. A tragic example involves 26-year-old George Smith IV from Greenwich, Connecticut, who disappeared from the parade in 2005. In 2015, the FBI concluded Smith’s case. His family may never have answers about what happened. The Smiths bravely turned their grief into action, working closely with Congress to ensure the passage of the Cruise Ship Safety and Safety Act, the last major cruise industry reform. The legislation has achieved important achievements in improving passenger safety on cruise ships, but other actions are urgently needed.

I have been working on the Cruise Passenger Protection Act in the Senate since 2013 to further reform the Senate efforts and I am honored to work with Rep. Doris Matsui of California. The bill will implement additional passenger safety standards and cruise route reporting requirements to ensure that consumers have sufficient information about their rights before sailing and can make a means in terms of recourse if there is a problem.

My measures will require cruises to retain video footage in any suspected crime of the year so that investigators and victims have more time to access the videotapes that may be needed. It also requires cruises to specify whether the crime (including sexual assault) has committed a crime against a minor. To strengthen law enforcement, the bill will increase the fines faced by cruise ship violations.

My Cruise Passenger Protection Act will also greatly support victim support. This will require cruises to clearly inform passengers to file a lawsuit and establish a director of the victim support service within the U.S. Department of Transportation to contact the cruise victims and develop procedures for handling the incident.

Since I led this measure, Congress has passed some safety and health regulations. These regulations impose requirements on cruise companies, such as installing cameras in public areas and retaining 20 days of surveillance records, installing “human rolling” imaging technology, and ensuring that ships are easily accessible to accessible automated external defibrillators. While these policies now adopted are an important step forward, a complete Cruise Passenger Protection Act must be passed to address ongoing issues on cruise ships and protect all passengers on board.

The cruise industry has already made the legislation fiercely, calling its requirements “unnecessary.” As BuzzFeed News’ investigation clearly points out, they are subject to competition from experts, lawyers, victims and their families. Those courage to shout out will help us through my Cruise Passenger Protection Act. I hope the cruise industry will support these important reforms, which will only make their sailing better for consumers. Strong safety standards and real law enforcement will help protect passengers and keep the cruise industry accountable.

Richard Blumenthal is a senior senator from Connecticut.