Cruise ships are seeing an alarming spike in sex crimes

Incidents of sexual assaults and rape on cruise ships sailing to and from the US surged last year, according to the Transportation Department.

The FBI recorded 39 sexual assaults and 58 rape cases among passengers between January and September 2023. During the same period, cruise lines reported 76 alleged sex crimes by passengers, 17 by crew members and four by unknowns.

Though these incidents comprise less than 1% of total cruisers worldwide, sex crimes are the most commonly reported on cruises.

The sex crime surge follows a disturbing trend, with 87 reported cases in 2022 and 79 in the first three quarters of 2019.

Carnival Cruise Line topped the list with 36 incidents, followed by Royal Caribbean with 20 and Disney Cruise Line with 15.

Legal battles unveiled disturbing patterns
Recent lawsuits include a bartender on a Margaritaville at Sea cruise facing sentencing for non-consensual acts and a crew member accused of raping a 17-year-old.

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) defended the industry’s safety record, citing a commissioned report highlighting lower rates of violent crimes at sea compared to land.

Despite the surge in sex crimes, CLIA’s 2023 report reveals a spike in cruise popularity, with 31.5 million passengers the previous year. It marks a 54% spike from 2022 and nearly 2 million more than in 2019.