As
the one-year deadline approached for filing suit over George Smith
IVs disappearance during a July 2005 Royal Caribbean cruise, three
actions were taken.
Smiths wife,
Jennifer Hagel Smith, reached a settlement with Royal Caribbean.
Smiths father, mother and sister decided to proceed with
litigation. Meanwhile, the Smiths congressman, Rep. Christopher
Shays (R-Conn.) introduced legislation, the Cruise Line Accurate
Safety Statistics Act, to tighten regulations on the reporting of
crimes and disappearances on ships.
The Smith familys
suit accused Royal Caribbean of outrageous conduct causing severe
emotional distress in its handling of the incident and its
communication with Smiths family in the aftermath of Smiths
disappearance on his honeymoon cruise.
The cruise line
denied the allegations and said its reaction was proper.
James Walker, Hagel
Smiths attorney, said his client accepted a settlement from Royal
Caribbean because she believes it is the best way to get answers
about what happened to Smith.
As part of the
settlement, the cruise line agreed to open its files, making
available all the security logs, surveillance videos, room service
records, phone records, door lock activity data and the cruise
lines documents from its attorneys and from communications with
Turkish police, Bahamian authorities, the U.S. Coast Guard and
interviews with passengers and crew members, Walker
said.
Very little of that
would have been available if Hagel Smith had elected to pursue
litigation, Walker said.
The settlement must
be approved by the probate court of Greenwich, Conn. The Smith
family, which has the right to voice objections at a hearing at the
court, can continue its lawsuit whether or not the settlement is
approved, Walker said.
The information
released by the cruise line under the settlement will not be
available to the public or to Smith family members pursuing
litigation. It will be turned over to investigators hired by Hagel
Smith who are working in cooperation with the FBI
investigation.
The bill introduced
by Shays would require the owner of any ship that calls at a U.S.
port to report to the Coast Guard any crimes or missing-person
incidents involving a U.S. citizen within four hours of the captain
being informed.
Cruise lines would
have to submit quarterly reports including each crime, missing
person or man overboard case, and make the information available on
the Internet.
The Dept. of
Homeland Security would have to inspect each cruise ship that docks
in the U.S. to ensure that the ship has adequate equipment and
trained personnel to investigate crimes.
Also, cruise lines
would have to refer guests to an Internet site with cruise crime
statistics and provide the location of the U.S. embassy and
consulate in each country visited. Violations would be punishable
by fines of up to $250,000.
To
contact reporter David Cogswell, send e-mail to [email protected].