There are strict rules for cruise ship passengers, even more now than in the past, with all the concerns of global terrorism. Passengers are suppose to travel on cruise ships with their passports, which are checked before boarding, when disembarking at port of calls, and again upon returning to the original port or the port of final disembarktion.
Passenger Exposes Hole In Security
Woman Leaves Cruise Ship Enroute Undetected
Celebrity Mercury December 15, 2007
If a passenger has an emergency, such as being ill on board, or needing to get off the vessel due to some other business or family emergency, they are suppose to notify the ship, the ship notifies the port, and proper disembarkation procedures are followed by the nation's customs and immigration bureau. Not this time.
Lynette Harris was on a month-long cruise aboard the Celebrity Mercury. This is one of the more expensive cruises, one that caters to a more elite group of passengers due to the high cost. This could be the reason for the gaping hole in security aboard Celebrity Mercury or it could be that Celebrity Cruise Line is just slack in general when it comes to customs procedures.
Harris boarded Mercury in Hawaii on November 23, 2007. She was to remain on the ship until disembarking in Sydney, Australia on December 23, but instead left the ship at Dunedin, New Zealand for family reasons on December 15.
New Zealand Customs Service acting group manager, trade and marine, Andy Badrick confirmed there was no record in customs' system of Ms Harris having departed the ship in Dunedin, New Zealand.
"Based on our investigation of the incident, customs can confirm that it was not informed that Ms Harris was departing the ship."
Badrick continued, "In this instance, both the cruise ship operators and Ms Harris were in breach of the Customs and Excise Act 1996 for failing to advise of her change in status from a transit passenger to a legal arrive passenger."
What this demonstrates, is it is STILL entirely possible for a passenger to just wallk off a ship, and disappear, perhaps for ever.
This fact is important, because on August 28, 2004 a woman disappeared off this same ship, and has never been seen again. The woman, Merrian Lynn Carver was on an Alaskan cruise aboard Mercury, when the cruise line says she either disembarked without telling them or she jumped overboard. The line has never acknowledged the possibility that Carver could have been THROWN overboard or kidnapped from the ship.
Royal Caribbean International, owners of the Celebrity line and Mercury say after Carver's father Kendall Carver, President of the International Cruise Victims (ICV)organization, a Cruise Bruise partner, brought the case to their attention they beefed up their secuirty. Now, Cruise Bruise is asking, "Where's The Beef?".
Merrian disappeared off Mercury and it took her father five weeks to find out that she had been on Mercury at all. Celebrity went to great lengths to cover up the fact she had been aboard, going so far as to give away her luggage and possessions to charity.
After the elder Carver managed to figure out on his own, his daughter had been on Mercury, then disppeared without the ship notifying anyone, he brought the matter to public attention with the formation of the ICV.
Since the line has said they have tightened security aboard their ships to the point no passenger would be able to simply disappear, without officers aboard and port officials knowing about it.
Now, with this new case on the same ship, it is clear that Royal Caribbean/Celebrity are all talk, saying what the public wants to hear, but not following through with any plans in place.
New Zealand customs officials have been clear that this latest breech in security, rested entirely on the shoulders of the officers aboard Mercury, and on Celebrity Cruise Lines at the highest levels.
The cruise line is the first line of defense against terrorism, drug dealers and for protecting passengers against possible kidnappings and other crimes.
Celebrity Mercury is also the same ship that had her captain removed from the bridge, having failed a test for intoxication on May 19, 2006. Periklis Petridis, age 47, the Mercury cruise ship captain from Greece was arrested in Seattle right before the ship was due to leave the Port Of Seattle.
A Coast-Guard inspector was aboard the Mercury to follow up on a previous safety violation involving a life boat lift. The inspector smelled alcohol on the captain's breath and notified staff at Coast Guard headquarters, he said.
