Australian Official Recommends Criminal Charges in Cruise Ship Rape and Death

Mark McLean

Contributor

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The 2002 rape and eventual killing of a cruise ship patron has led Australian officials to recommend criminal charges. Dianne Brimble died after a fellow cruise patron slipped her "Fantasy", a date rape drug.

P & O Cruises, associated with Carnival Cruise Line, apologized to the woman's family.

Our responsibility is to create an environment onboard our ships where we do all we can to make sure people are safe, that behaviour is appropriate and our passengers enjoy their holiday. Our next concern is how we respond if people don't behave appropriately, regardless of what we do to try to prevent such behaviour.

As P & O admits, cruise lines have a "responsibility" for the safety of their passengers. Failing to adequately protect passengers, even from one another, fails to meet this responsibility. P & O's apology to the woman's family shows that greater steps need to be taken by cruise lines to ensure passenger safety and that cruises should be held liable for failing to take those necessary steps.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Airlines, Cruises, Buses, and Other Mass Transit Accidents.