A woman goes overboard and survives ten hours in the Adriatic.
Similar cases are often fatal: more than 20 people disappear on cruises every year.
Hamburg - water slides on board, overflowing buffets and brilliant entertainment programs: modern cruise ships advertise a luxury that often puts even star hotels in the shade.
When passengers disappear on a cruise
The industry has been booming for years, spurred on by holidaymakers who hope for relaxation and entertainment on up to 16 decks in addition to exotic harbor stops.
But sometimes the idyllic holiday turns out to be a nightmare.
Again and again, passengers go overboard - and not just as a result of accidents - and some remain missing.
The criminal lawyer and TV attorney Alexander Stevens even goes so far as to describe the cruise business as "an Eldorado for murder-driven people".
"In fact, on average over 20 people disappear from board a cruise ship every year," explains Ross Klein, professor for maritime studies at the Canadian University of Newfoundland, when asked by the German Press Agency (dpa).
The cruise expert has documented a total of 315 such cases since 2000.
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Some of the missing persons can be traced back to suicides, explains the expert, while other cases are the result of unfortunate accidents, often as a result of alcohol abuse.
"It is worrying, however, that in around 30 percent of all cases there is no indication of what might have happened to the passengers," says Klein.
For the bereaved, years of agonizing uncertainty usually follow.
One man who had to experience this first hand is the American Kendall Carver.
His adult daughter Merrian disappeared from
a cruise ship in
2004
.
“As a relative, I suffered a lot.
Not only because I lost a loved one, but above all because the shipping company tried every possible way to cover up the incident, ”he says, visibly moved, via video call.
The tragedy begins on September 1, 2004, when Carver's daughter is suddenly unavailable for several days.
Carver finds out that she bought
tickets for an American cruise ship
.
He called the shipping company, which confirmed after three days that Merrian was on board, but had not used her cabin after the second night.
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“This is where the odyssey began for us,” says the old man, deep sadness in his voice.
According to Carver, the shipping company refuses to cooperate with his family, claiming that video recordings have long since been overridden.
"They did everything possible to obstruct the investigation," says Carver.
He alerts the FBI, hires private detectives and in the end files a lawsuit.
"I didn't want to let this billion-dollar machinery get me down," he says.
Four and a half months later, a court decides that Carver can speak to the steward who was responsible for his daughter's cabin.
This says that he reported Merrian missing after two days.
However, his supervisor instructed him to simply "forget" the matter.
Later he simply disposed of her personal belongings.
"Now we knew we were dealing with a
cover-up,
" says Kendall, his voice trembling with anger.
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"As shocking as that may sound - it's almost typical behavior," judges Ross Klein.
Negative press is simply bad for business.
“Cruise ships are a feel-good product.
That's why shipping companies would do almost anything to prevent negative reporting, ”he says.
Video: 5 Weird Secrets About Cruising
Missing people on cruise: shipping companies keep a low profile
Only a few shipping companies respond to
inquiries from the dpa on the
industry topic
.
One of them is the German cruise giant Aida.
“The safety of our passengers is our top priority,” says Martina Reuter, press spokeswoman for Aida Cruises, the German branch of the British-American Carnival group.
The problem with emergency systems for man overboard is that there are still no international standards for them.
“Nevertheless, Carnival is working on a technical solution,” she says.
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: Drugs, corpses, excesses: cruise employees reveal scandals on the ship.
Aida competitor Tui Cruises ("Mein Schiff") does not want to comment and refers to the association of the cruise industry Clia (Cruise Lines International Association).
They say that today's cruise ships are the safest that have ever been on the move.
Safety precautions such as uniform minimum heights for the railing are there to prevent passengers who behave responsibly from falling off board.
"There are no known cases in which someone who behaved responsibly
accidentally fell over the railing of a cruise ship
."
The
cruise company MSC Cruises
had announced the end of 2017 the introduction of a video-based emergency system on board its latest flagship and sees itself as an industry leader.
The state-of-the-art system is designed to detect man overboard emergencies faster and more reliably.
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The fall of the missing Merrian brings something positive in the end.
Around 14 months after her disappearance, Kendall Carver founded the “International Cruise Victims” organization, an association that, according to its own account, represents “
victims of the cruise industry
”.
“We wanted to create a platform on which relatives can support each other and also get things moving politically.” Thanks to his efforts, the US Congress passed the “Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act” in 2010.
Among other things, this provides a US $ 250,000 fine for shipping companies if the disappearance of a passenger is not reported within four hours.
It also stipulates that ships calling for US ports
must have
an
automatic man-overboard system installed
.
However, there is no reason for the bereaved to celebrate.
“Many shipping companies have not yet installed the system.
It can take hours before the disappearance of a passenger is noticed, "says Jim Walker, one of the most prominent maritime law attorneys from Miami, via video chat.
He claims: “The shipping companies are all about the money.
It is cheaper to declare a missing person suicide case than
to invest
in
expensive security systems.
"
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Now a real tragedy has occurred on a cruise ship: a boy (12) died on a trip with his family.
dpa
