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Complaints of sexual assault on cruise ships have nearly doubled in five years, with 131 sexual assaults reported on board in 2023, according to FBI data.
Surprisingly, approximately 79 of these complaints were related to rape. Watchdog groups say the exploding popularity of cruises and the easy availability of alcohol onboard contribute to maritime crime.
Mike Winkleman, a veteran maritime lawyer in Miami, told the Post that “sex offenders have come to realize that cruise ships are a great place to get away with something bad.”
“When you’re on a cruise ship, there’s a sense that you’re more likely to get away with wrongdoing at sea than on land.”
Allegations of sexual misconduct at sea were thrust into the spotlight last week after two Kentucky women said they were drugged and sexually assaulted while on a cruise to the Bahamas.
The incident is said to have happened at a resort that Dongueira Dobson and Amber Shearer visited during a trip to land, where they claim their drinks were spiked by a waiter. The Royal Bahamas Police Force is handling the case as they were off the ship at the time.
A spokesperson for the Grand Bahama Island resort said security footage from the day did not match the women’s accounts. The investigation is still ongoing.
Both women also said Carnival did not alert them to the U.S. State Department’s travel advisory to the Bahamas until after the ordeal.
All cruise companies operating cruises to and from U.S. ports must file serious incident reports with the FBI regarding onboard assaults, suspicious deaths, missing persons, theft of property valued at $10,000 or more, and sex-related crimes. There is a need to.
It is unclear how many incidents reported to authorities in 2023 resulted in arrests, but the number is a significant increase from the 77 sexual assaults reported in 2018. Previous data showed that rape was not reported separately from other sexual assaults.
Of the more than a dozen lawsuits The Post filed in Miami federal court last year, alcohol was a factor in nearly all of them. All-you-can-drink packages on some cruise ships start at $60 per passenger per day.
Another maritime lawyer, Jack Hickey, said: “Cruise lines make most of their revenue from beverage sales and beverage packaging. They do it in a very liberal way.”
The incident describes a variety of attacks, most of which are attributed to staff members.
The alleged crime occurred in a DJ booth and an employee-only area that is not visible to surveillance cameras.
In some cases, women were given drinks by workers and suddenly became light-headed. Other cases involve crimes against minors.
In the ongoing case, a female teenager was approached by a staff member in the fitness area of a Carnival cruise ship last March and offered free stretching services. She accompanied the man to a private place where he allegedly sexually assaulted her.
When the girl did not return to the gym, her cousins became concerned and eventually discovered the girl being sexually abused by an employee, according to court documents.
“What the hell are you doing to my cousin?” she yelled at the worker, who denied any wrongdoing.
In a lawsuit filed last month, a woman claims a celebrity cruise ship employee offered her a drink after going to the restroom and returning to her bar seat.
According to the complaint, she “felt that as a result of drinking the drink, she experienced a lack of physical coordination and a significantly reduced ability to exercise.” She said: “She also feels sedated.”
The employee then took her to a cabin several decks up and raped her, the lawsuit alleges.
In a lawsuit filed against Royal Caribbean, a woman claims an employee gave her a drink, rendered her unconscious and raped her during an April 2022 cruise.
The complaint states that she tested positive for fentanyl after returning home from the trip.
Victims of sexual assault on cruise ships reportedly had their husbands and children with them during the trip, compounding the trauma.
In another ongoing lawsuit, the woman said she was at a bar on the cruise ship MSC Meraviglia with a friend in February 2022. Her husband and his girlfriend were in another part of the ship.
After the last call, the two women requested another drink.
The bartender told one of the women to follow her to a private area so she could get another drink.
He then overpowered her and forced her to perform oral sex, court documents state. According to her complaint, her spouse searched for her aggressively and eventually took part in her attack.
Carnival, Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
Hickey argued that the cruise line is fiercely defending its reputation and vigorously contesting the court’s claims.
Lawyers also highlighted the risks posed by sections of the ship dedicated to teenagers, including dance areas.
One of the ongoing lawsuits filed by the parents of a teenage woman alleges that she was sexually assaulted in the bathroom by another passenger in a restroom connected to a discotheque.
Sally Andrews of the Cruise Lines International Association, an industry group, countered that passengers on cruise ships are in far less danger than on land.
“Cruise ships are one of the safest vacation options in the world, with serious crime rates significantly lower than on land due to the layered security and nature of cruising,” she said.
