A U.S.- Bahamas agreement on who leads what investigation might speed up law enforcement response time when alleged crimes occur aboard Bahamas-flagged cruise ships carrying U.S. passengers.
An international cruise advocacy group is pushing for just such an agreement, considering the majority of cruise ships – more than 70 percent, according to the group – are registered in the Bahamas and sail under the Bahamian flag.
Michael Crye, head of the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL), told the Bahama Journal recently that the diplomatic negotiations over incidents that involve U.S. citizens aboard a Bahamas-flagged vessel could be expedited by an agreement on who would lead the investigations.
“As it relates to criminal accusations involving U.S. citizens, the thought was possibly in that case the United States would have a greater interest as [it] relates to U.S. citizens. In many other matters, the Bahamas would have the greater interest,” Mr. Crye explained.
“So if we could have an agreement-respecting those things, it might facilitate a more rapid law enforcement response when an incident occurs.”
Mr. Crye explained that he had met in New York with Kennuth McLean of the Bahamas Maritime Authority to discuss this proposed bilateral agreement and a number of other issues.
He insisted, however, that no such agreement was signed or even agreed to at this meeting.
“Obviously, this is an issue between the government of the United States and the government of the Bahamas, so Mr. McLean, in fact, if he feels that this is the right approach would be doing so through the government of the Bahamas and the United States government,” he noted.
According to Mr. Crye, the overwhelming majority of cruise ships – 80 or so ships – are registered in the Bahamas, and sail under the Bahamian flag, which means they are operated under the Bahamas’ supervision.
He said that most cruise ships are carrying United States citizens, and therefore the United States authorities have jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute alleged crimes that occur involving United States citizens.
Concurrently, he pointed out, the Bahamas government also has the authority to apply its laws because of the flag of the vessel.
“The process of sorting out who should be in the lead in a particular investigation, and who should be supporting the lead, is a matter of diplomatic negotiation in particular incidents,” he explained.
“And the process of diplomatic negotiation can take a period of time to sort out agreements between particular countries.”
The ICCL is an advocacy group for a number of cruise lines, including Carnival, Celebrity, Disney, Holland America, Norwegian, Princess and Royal Caribbean, among others.
The organization’s mission includes promotion of all measures that foster a safe, secure and healthy cruise environment.
Investigation of crimes aboard cruise ships is reportedly complicated by where the ship is based, where it is sailing and the nationality of the crew and passengers.
The international cruise industry is according to reports experiencing a slow season, due to “a spate of high-profile problems on the high seas.”
One such problem was the 2005 hurricane season, which saw three of a record-shattering 27 storms, three of which reached Category Five status, meaning the storms had winds in excess of 155mph. Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, was one such Category Five Storm.
Among things that affected cruiser confidence, which is ultimately responsible for the slowing demand, were acts of piracy, such as when pirates attacked a cruise ship off Somalia.
By: Quincy Parker, The Bahama Journal
