FBI: Cruise ships are prime crime spots

kvue.com

Kenneth Williams won’t hesitate to tell his story. He has even posted it on eBay in hopes shoppers will stumble across his narrative while looking for cruises.

“I feel like it’s my obligation to let people know about it,” Williams said.

The 40 year-old Galveston County Sheriff’s Deputy took his first cruise in June with his wife and two children.

But Williams said his family was robbed at gunpoint on a ship sponsored shore excursion in Jamaica.

Six weeks ago, the FBI revealed 207 other crimes that passengers on cruise lines experienced between April 1 and August 24, 2007.

More than half the incidents were deemed not serious. There were 41 sexual assaults and 13 physical assaults but no homicides or kidnappings.

Cruise lines reported 13 large thefts. One of the biggest happened on a cruise ship docked in Galveston.

The FBI reports thieves got away with $30,000 worth of belongings in that instance.

The Cruise Lines International Association said only a minute fraction of vacationers ever become victims.

“It’s in our best interest to keep passengers safe and secure,” said Christine Fischer, a CLIA spokeswoman.

The FBI says cruise lines appear to be making a good faith effort to report crimes on the high seas.

Fischer also said the cruise industry is creating a survivors group to be more responsive to passengers concerns.

Plus, the largest cruise lines voluntarily started submitting the crime data to the FBI earlier this year in an effort to be more transparent.

But Deputy Williams wonders.

“A lot of other incidents happen that never make it to the public,” he added.

His family’s survival story is still for sell on eBay. It’s a gimmick he uses to warn travelers of what can happen.

Printable Version | published Nov 07, 2007

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