Greenwich Citizen
By Anne W. Semmes
Three years nearly to the day, July 5, 2005, that 26-year-old George Smith IV disappeared from his honeymoon cruise somewhere off Greece under mysterious circumstances, the Smith family of Greenwich has succeeded in bringing their drive for greater passenger safety on cruise liners to the highest level of Congress - the floor of the U.S. Senate.
They were joined by another parent, Ken Carver, formerly of Darien, who lost his 40-year-old daughter, Merrian, in 2004 after she disappeared from a Royal Caribbean cruise to Alaska.
In their grief, the two families created the International Cruise Victims (ICV), a nonprofit organization with carefully thought-out points that has pushed for better regulation, safety and accountability. Those points were fully addressed in a bill introduced by U.S. Sen. John Kerry D-Mass., from the state in which Merrian Carver resided, on the floor of the Senate on June 26, entitled "The Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2008."
Simultaneously, the bill was entered onto the floor of the House of Representatives by California Congressman Doris Matsui, D-Calif., co-sponsored by Connecticut's Christopher Shays, R-4, and three other representatives: Lloyd Doggett, R-Tex., John Lewis, D-Ga., and Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.
"The tragic loss of Ken Carver's daughter, Merrian, should serve as a reminder that security and crime reporting regulations need to be tightened," Kerry said.
"Murky legal jurisdictions in international waters," he said, "are no longer an excuse for failing to report serious crimes so that they may be effectively prosecuted."
"It is absolutely appalling," said Matsui, whose constituent, Laurie Dishman, was the victim of sexual assault on a cruise, "that the cruise industry still has not instituted basic reforms so that crimes can be prevented and if crimes do occur, victims have adequate access to justice."
"The Kerry-Matsui-Shays cruise ship legislation," said Shays, who early on came to the aid of the Smith family, "will require crimes aboard cruise ships to be reported to the Coast Guard and FBI, while also improving cruise ship safety and crime scene response. I am hopeful the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will consider the legislation soon."
"Our thanks go to the lawmakers, including Congressman Chris Shays," said the Smith family of George, wife Maureen and daughter Bree, "that have been instrumental in bringing the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2008 to fruition."
The family was "pleased" with the bill's introduction, but called it "long overdue."
"It was apparent to our family from the moment that George disappeared on July 5th, three years ago, that there were serious problems in how cruise lines handled crimes on their ships," said the family in a group statement.
"Royal Caribbean's lack of candor regarding George's murder," the statement continued, "to this day illustrates that greater regulation and accountability is required in order to make cruising a safe family vacation. If this bill had been in place three years ago, George's perpetrator(s) may have already been brought to justice."
The Smiths are appealing the Royal Caribbean cruise line company's million-dollar settlement to Jennifer Hagel Smith, the widow of their son, as it absolves the cruise line company of accountability.
Ken Carver, formerly of Darien but now living in Phoenix, called the Kerry-Matsui-Shays bill "the most comprehensive bill ever put together to bring accountability and improve the safety of passengers on cruise ships."
"The airline industries have had these kinds of rules for accountability for years," he said. "The cruise ship industry's massive lobbying efforts have prevented this."
Last year, said Carver, the industry spent nearly $3 million on lobbying "just in Washington. But the tide is swinging our way on this thing," he said. "This industry can't hide as they've hidden in the past. The world has changed."
Carver likened the ICV fight to the biblical battle between David and Goliath. "We're the David," he said, against the Goliath cruise industry.
"It was only after we victims got organized that we really got started," he said.
And what were the bill's chances of getting passed? "Things always get changed," he said. "But I'm going to be an optimist and say it's going to happen. These bills are not going away."
Original Article: http://www.greenwichcitizen.com/localnews/ci_9776178
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