Maritime Mishaps: Unclear Jurisdiction on Cruise Ships

By Jessica “Lulu” Lipman
Jessica "Lulu" Lipman is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences studying English.

“If you want to murder somebody, take them on a cruise because you are never gonna get caught,” Jamie Barnett exclaims. Her daughter, Ashley Barnett, died under suspicious circumstances on a Carnival Cruise in 2005. Ashley died from a methadone overdose, despite being vehemently against substance use. Her autopsy showed no signs of methadone use before the “overdose.” Ashley’s case is one of the thousands of crimes on cruise ships that have yet to be solved. This is due, in part, to the murky nature of maritime laws and the complexity of jurisdiction in international water [1]

The question of which country has jurisdiction over a cruise ship is a complicated one. Usually, if a crime occurs on a boat, the country where the vessel is registered has jurisdiction. Many cruises based out of the U.S. are registered in other countries like Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Panama for tax reasons and to recruit cheap labor. The country of registration, however, is generally far from the location of the boat, and the crime does not involve citizens of their country, so the government is frequently reluctant to get involved in any potential criminal investigations[2]. 

There are, however, a few exceptions to this jurisdiction rule; first, if the boat is in the internal waters of a country, such as in a bay or port, the ship is under the jurisdiction of said country. Second, a ship is in the jurisdiction of a country if it is within 12 miles of its coastline, which is referred to as a countries’ territorial waters. Lastly, between 12 and 24 miles of a coastline, a country has limited jurisdiction, meaning they only have authority over matters involving customs, taxes, immigration, and sanitation. Anything beyond 24 miles is considered the high seas, and jurisdiction is designated to the country where the boat is registered [3]. 

Another problem that exacerbates the possibility for rampant crime on cruises is the lack of independent enforcement. When crimes occur, it is difficult to hold individuals accountable and conduct proper investigations. For example, if a passenger reports theft from their cabin, the passenger is supposed to inform the ship’s security guard, who has to report it to the captain. The captain is then responsible for divulging that information to the country that has jurisdiction, and the government must decide how to handle the matter. However, law enforcement agencies believe that in many instances where passengers report crimes to security, security guards fail to disclose it to the captain, or the captain chooses not to report the information to the government [4]

This break in the chain-of-command generally occurs because cruise lines want to minimize the chance of getting negative press or any civil lawsuits brought against them. For example, if a passenger was assaulted on a cruise, the cruise staff could potentially be civilly liable for not preventing the assault. Therefore, many crimes on the high seas go undetected and unreported. Unfortunately, even if a captain does report the crime while traveling on the high seas, any potential investigation gets a slow start because of the distance from the country of jurisdiction [5].

The tragic story of Amy Lynn Bradley’s disappearance is one of the many stories that exemplifies the inadequate laws that create an atmosphere of unsafety on cruise ships. In 1998, Bradley, who was 23, vanished while on a Royal Caribbean cruise with her family. Due to the boat's proximity to shore, Amy’s strong swimming skills, and the lack of circumstantial evidence, investigators firmly believe that she did not fall overboard and drown. Amy’s family noticed her absence at 6 am; they had last seen her at 5:30 am, which leaves a very narrow window during which she vanished. Although the Bradleys pleaded with the captain to make an announcement asking if anyone had seen Amy, the captain held off, as he did not want to scare other passengers. This holdup was the first blunder in what the family considers a “botched” investigation done by Royal Caribbean [6].

On the day of Amy’s disappearance, the cruise was supposed to stop and dock in Curacao. The Bradley’s asked the ship to hold off on unloading passengers so that they could do a thorough investigation before docking. Landing in Curacao would mean that if a crew-member had abducted Amy intending to sell her into sex slavery— the prevailing theory of what happened—the perpetrator could easily escape with Amy. Unfortunately, because there was no external police force on the boat, whatever the captain said went and the ship docked that morning. A search was conducted on the ship, at sea, and on land, but Amy’s case remains unsolved 22 years later [7]
After the preliminary search for Amy, the FBI got involved in the case. Despite the unclear nature of jurisdiction on cruises, the FBI has the authority to get involved in any case involving an American citizen, even if it is on the high seas. The U.S. is the only country in the world to have this privilege. Amy’s situation is unique, though, because in most cases, the FBI chooses not to get involved with crimes that occur on cruise ships, especially ones they deem as “less serious” or “less important.” In Amy’s case and others, even if the FBI proceeds with an investigation, there is usually little to no evidence left by the time the agents reach the ship [8].

It is evident that there are insufficient laws to prevent crimes from happening on cruises. With no external force to ensure that the boat’s security takes the proper measures to prevent and investigate crimes, the high seas become somewhat of a “Wild West.” In fact, it is estimated that approximately three people die on cruise ships each week [9]. Another aspect of laws on the high seas that needs to be further addressed is that, in most cases, if a person dies or goes missing at sea, their family is not eligible for any sort of financial compensation. This is because of the 1920 bill known as The Death on the High Seas Act, which states the ship does not have to give any money to families of loved ones who have died at sea through a “wrongful act,” such as negligence unless they can prove that the deceased financially supported the people trying to receive compensation. Thus, most families never receive a penny [10]. As more inadequacies come to light regarding murky maritime laws and onboard investigations, there is hope for new, all-encompassing bills.

[1] Lin, Bilin, “Unsolved crimes on cruise ships leave families with many questions, few answers” (25 January 2021). BU News Services. https://bunewsservice.com/unsolved-crimes-on-cruise-ships-leave-families-with-many-questions-few-answers/
[2] “Almost all cruise ships fly foreign flags, here’s 3 reasons why” (2021) Emma Cruises. https://emmacruises.com/cruise-ships-fly-foreign-flags/
[3] Layton, Julia, “If I'm on a cruise ship, what laws do I have to adhere to?” HowStuffWorks. https://people.howstuffworks.com/cruise-ship-law1.htm
[4] Lin, Bilin, “Unsolved crimes on cruise ships leave families with many questions, few answers” (25 January 2021). BU News Services. https://bunewsservice.com/unsolved-crimes-on-cruise-ships-leave-families-with-many-questions-few-answers/
[5] Lin, Bilin, “Unsolved crimes on cruise ships leave families with many questions, few answers” (25 January 2021). BU News Services. https://bunewsservice.com/unsolved-crimes-on-cruise-ships-leave-families-with-many-questions-few-answers/
[6] Suzanne, Victoria, “Vanished: what happened to Amy Lynn Bradley?” (31 August 2021). Medium Crime Scenes https://medium.com/crime-scenes/vanished-what-happened-to-amy-lynn-bradley-174c75befbe1
[7] “Amy Lynn Bradley” (29 September 2021). Disappeared Blog. https://disappearedblog.com/amy-lynn-bradley/
[8] Lin, Bilin, “Unsolved crimes on cruise ships leave families with many questions, few answers” (25 January 2021). BU News Services.
[9] “Cruise Ship Deaths – Annual Statistics, Causes and Real Examples” (2021) Emma Cruises. https://emmacruises.com/die-on-cruise-ships/ 
 [10] Lin, Bilin, “Unsolved crimes on cruise ships leave families with many questions, few answers” (25 January 2021). BU News Services. https://bunewsservice.com/unsolved-crimes-on-cruise-ships-leave-families-with-many-questions-few-answers/
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