A vicious attack by a crew member on a female passenger sent shock waves through the cruise industry this week and raised questions about background screening of shipboard employees.
The assault took place Feb. 14 on Holland America Line's Nieuw Amsterdam, and the suspect was arrested when the ship returned to Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 16.
The Sun Sentinel newspaper in South Florida identified the suspect as room-service attendant Ketut Pujayasa, 28, an Indonesian citizen. He confessed to using a master key to enter the woman's stateroom and then raped and beat her and tried to throw her overboard, the Sun Sentinel reported, citing FBI reports.
The attack was revenge for a perceived insult earlier that day, the newspaper said in an unusually detailed article.
"While no words can adequately express our shock at this event, this has shaken the entire Holland America family to our very core," the company said in a statement. "We continue to work closely with authorities to understand how this incident occurred and what additional actions we can take to help ensure that nothing like this ever happens again."
The attack took place during the Feb. 9 Western Caribbean cruise, which was chartered by Bare Necessities Tour and Travel, an Austin company that organizes nude vacations.
Holland America Line said the victim, a 31-year-old American, was cared for and her condition stabilized in the ship's hospital. She disembarked the ship on Feb. 15 in Roatan, Honduras, and was transferred by air to a hospital in South Florida. Holland America flew her family to be with her while she is treated.
Holland America said it immediately notified the FBI and other relevant authorities. The crew member was placed under guard on the ship and the crime scene was secured by the ship's officers and security personnel. Upon returning to Port Everglades, the crew member was remanded to the custody of the FBI and Broward County sheriff's office. He was terminated.
The attack raises questions about how crew members are screened before hiring. Holland America Line said it requires police clearance from the country of origin for nearly all crew members before they can work on its ships, and that this crew member had indeed undergone the screening.
In addition, all crewmembers undergo "rigorous visa requirements" for the routes they will be sailing, the cruise line said.
"For example, virtually all of our crewmembers must obtain a visa from the U.S. Embassy and are vetted by the U.S. Government prior to issuance of a visa; foreign national crewmembers arrive at international airports within the U.S. and must undergo U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) vetting against all watch lists; and all crew are subject to a full crew vetting by CBP every 90 days and subject to the same vetting as outlined above."
The crew member in this case was hired in 2012 following a screening that included a clean criminal history check. "He had no performance issues and came with good references," Holland America said.
Nancy Tiemann, president of Bare Necessities, confirmed that the assault took place during the company's charter but that it had no bearing on the motivation for the attack.
"We were very saddened by the incident, it goes without saying," she said. "The ship was very good at responding and getting everything under control."
She said she could not elaborate but was glad to hear the woman is recovering from her injuries.
As for what motivated the attack, the Sun Sentinel said Pujayasa told the FBI that he wanted to punish the woman because she said "Wait a minute, son of a bitch" after he knocked on her door three times trying to deliver her room-service breakfast that day.
The attack also was covered extensively by the consumer media, again raising questions about crime on cruise ships. It's difficult to get a handle on how extensive the problem is, although crime statistics are published by the U.S. Coast Guard here.
Those statistics list the cases that are closed by the FBI, not the number of alleged crimes reported to the FBI. According to these charts, there were 15 cases closed Jan. 1 through Sept. 30, 2013 - 12 sexual assaults, two assaults with serious bodily injury and one missing U.S. national.
A note explains that the cases listed are "no longer under investigation" by the FBI: "The number of matters 'no longer under investigation' provided on this Internet site is necessarily different than the aggregate number of matters required to be reported to the FBI…" That means the numbers do not include open investigations, pending prosecutions or reports that did not result in open investigations, such as lack of federal jurisdiction.
The Cruise Lines International Association has battled perceptions that crime is rampant on cruise ships. CEO Christine Duffy addressed the issue in a blog post July 12, 2012.
More recently, on Jan. 13, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report that found that the cruise industry is complying with most of the requirements of the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (CVSSA) of 2010.
"Although allegations of serious crime on cruise ships are a small fraction of corresponding rates on land, the cruise industry voluntarily discloses allegations of serious crime to the public so consumers can see for themselves that alleged crimes on cruise ships are uncommon. To our knowledge, no other industry provides this level of transparency," Duffy said in response to the GAO report.
"The GAO report notes that the low rate of alleged crime on cruise ships as compared with land-based crimes can be explained in part by the fact that passengers are in a set environment, all persons and items brought on board are screened, camera surveillance is ubiquitous, and security personnel are present."
Such crimes are indeed rare on the premium ships of Holland America Line. "At Holland America Line, the safety of our guests is our highest priority, and we are shocked and deeply saddened by this incident," said President and CEO Stein Kruse. "To our knowledge, no incident like this has occurred in our company's 140-year history."
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