Cruise investigation - Former US official calls for criminal inquiry, new regulations
published: Sunday | March 26, 2006

Earl Moxam, Senior Jamaica Gleaner News Writer

FOLLOWING THE fire aboard a cruise ship heading for Montego Bay on Thursday, a prominent transport safety expert in the United States has sounded the alarm regarding what he claims are lax regulations governing the cruise shipping industry.

Jim Hall, former chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), wants "a thorough investigation" into the cause of the early-morning fire and the response aboard the Star Princess , and implementation of stronger regulations.

"Here you have had a death and serious injuries on the high seas and in Jamaican waters and it appears that a criminal investigation might be warranted to see whether the cruise ship industry had taken adequate steps to protect the safety of its passengers. I certainly hope the U.S. Congress will follow the lead of the Jamaican government as well in looking into this serious accident."

DEFENDING CREW ' S PERFORMANCE

On the other hand, the local agent for the cruise line involved in Thursday's incident has mounted a robust defence of the ship crew's performance during the emergency, the investigation of which the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reportedly joined.

"When it was reported the ship was 51 nautical miles northwest of Jamaica. The ship was travelling at approximately 20 knots. You had a head wind of 15 knots. And you put that together, you had over 35 knots of wind to propel that fire ... and the ship's crew proved that they were able to contain and put that fire out by themselves," said Fritz Pinnock, managing director of Lannaman and Morris Shipping Ltd, during an interview on 'Good Evening Jamaica', on Power 106.

One passenger, Richard Liffidge, 75, of Georgia in the U.S., died of a heart attack, and three persons were hospitalised, while several others were treated at Cornwall Regional Hospital for minor injuries sustained during Thursday's fire emergency on the Star Princess .

Speaking from his office in the United States, Jim Hall cited the need for a full inquiry into the incident.

"(In) a fire of this size and magnitude ... it appears that there are a number of issues that Congress as well as the Jamaican Government would want to look into," Hall, NTSB chairman during much of the Clinton administration, told The Sunday Gleaner.

The Star Princess incident, he said, reminded him of several fire emergencies on cruise ships during his six and a half years as head of the NTSB.

Following those accidents, the NTSB issued additional safety regulations governing cruise ships including sprinkler systems; smoke detectors; protected means of escape; and remote operation of fire doors. Other measures included centrally-located control systems for all fire detection systems, alarm and fire protection equipment; fire suppression systems in exhaust ducts from galley ranges; low-level emergency lighting; effective public address systems; hose ports in fire doors; and improved crew language/ communication ability to assist passengers during emergencies.

Despite such innovations, however, Hall remains worried about safety and security on cruise ships. The industry, he said, was still ignoring calls to develop a strong safety culture "that would protect the lives of the individuals that are onboard the ships despite the fact that Americans and others spend millions of dollars to visit wonderful locations like Jamaica."

Pinnock, on the other hand, has a different perspective. "Regulations are important, but when you pull from statistics out of proportion ... ; when you consider that last year over 12 million people cruised and you had less than twenty cases; when you put that in the realm of statistics, it turns out to be not significant, not to say that human life is not significant," he countered.