# Crime on cruise ships

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crime-on-cruise-ships/271079>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 25, 2004, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crime-on-cruise-ships/271079 "2004-10-25T17:30:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hadrian0117](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Hadrian0117](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hadrian0117)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crime-on-cruise-ships/271079/1 "2004-10-25T17:30:06Z")

</div>

If passenger A kills passenger B on cruise ship in international waters how is it prosecuted? Do they go by the country the ship is registred to, nationality of the accused, or nationality of the victim? I know ships captains have alot of power but I doubt they’re still aloud to hold a trial on the ship (except for the Navy). I never even heard of homicide happening of passenger ships, but I’ve heard of cases of women being raped so it’s still the same question.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crime-on-cruise-ships/271079/2 "2004-10-25T18:13:19Z")

</div>

Accordign to [this page](http://www.crimedoctor.com/cruise1.htm):

> [@](#):
>
> Although you are boarding a ship in a US port doesn’t mean you are protected by our justice system. Most ships are registered in non-US countries and travel in territorial waters where US laws might not apply. The cruise industry does not report crime data consistently, if at all, to the FBI or have a database of which ships have the most crime problems. Shipboard crimes sometimes fall into a “no man’s land” of law enforcement. A crime can occur between two people of different nationalities, on a ship from a third country, and in the territorial waters of a fourth country. The governing law is the International Maritime Law and is not as well developed as US law. Reporting a crime on board a cruise ship doesn’t mean anything will be done or that the crime will ever be investigated. The FBI is the only US law enforcement agency that can investigate a major crime but only if it occurs in International waters, otherwise crimes are reported to the jurisdiction of the closest foreign country and to the embassies of the parties involved. Prosecution of crime, in many cases, will be left in the hands of the local port authority where no one can predict the outcome.