Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 124.djvu/2269

 124 STAT. 2243 PUBLIC LAW 111–207—JULY 27, 2010 Public Law 111–207 111th Congress An Act To amend title 46, United States Code, to establish requirements to ensure the security and safety of passengers and crew on cruise vessels, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010’’. (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Sec. 3. Cruise vessel security and safety requirements. Sec. 4. Offset of administrative costs. Sec. 5. Budgetary effects. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. The Congress makes the following findings: (1) There are approximately 200 overnight ocean-going cruise vessels worldwide. The average ocean-going cruise vessel carries 2,000 passengers with a crew of 950 people. (2) In 2007 alone, approximately 12,000,000 passengers were projected to take a cruise worldwide. (3) Passengers on cruise vessels have an inadequate appre- ciation of their potential vulnerability to crime while on ocean voyages, and those who may be victimized lack the information they need to understand their legal rights or to know whom to contact for help in the immediate aftermath of the crime. (4) Sexual violence, the disappearance of passengers from vessels on the high seas, and other serious crimes have occurred during luxury cruises. (5) Over the last 5 years, sexual assault and physical assaults on cruise vessels were the leading crimes investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with regard to cruise vessel incidents. (6) These crimes at sea can involve attacks both by pas- sengers and crewmembers on other passengers and crew- members. (7) Except for United States flagged vessels, or foreign flagged vessels operating in an area subject to the direct juris- diction of the United States, there are no Federal statutes or regulations that explicitly require cruise lines to report alleged crimes to United States Government officials. (8) It is not known precisely how often crimes occur on cruise vessels or exactly how many people have disappeared 46 USC 3507 note. 46 USC 101 note. Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010. July 27, 2010 [H.R. 3360]