II 
Calendar No. 211 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3360 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
NOVEMBER 18, 2009 
Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 
AN ACT 
To amend title 46, United States Code, to establish require-
ments 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 Representa-
tives 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 2009’’. 
(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. Study and report on the security needs of passenger vessels. 
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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 world-
wide. 
(3) Passengers on cruise vessels have an inad-
equate appreciation of their potential vulnerability to 
crime while on ocean voyages, and those who may be 
victimized lack the information they need to under-
stand their legal rights or to know whom to contact 
for help in the immediate aftermath of the crime. 
(4) Sexual violence, the disappearance of pas-
sengers from vessels on the high seas, and other se-
rious 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 Inves-
tigation with regard to cruise vessel incidents. 
(6) These crimes at sea can involve attacks 
both by passengers and crew members on other pas-
sengers and crew members. 
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(7) Except for United States flagged vessels, or 
foreign flagged vessels operating in an area subject 
to the direct jurisdiction 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 during ocean voyages because 
cruise line companies do not make comprehensive, 
crime-related data readily available to the public. 
(9) Obtaining reliable crime-related cruise data 
from governmental sources can be difficult, because 
multiple countries may be involved when a crime oc-
curs on the high seas, including the flag country for 
the vessel, the country of citizenship of particular 
passengers, and any countries having special or mar-
itime jurisdiction. 
(10) It can be difficult for professional crime 
investigators to immediately secure an alleged crime 
scene on a cruise vessel, recover evidence of an on-
board offense, and identify or interview potential 
witnesses to the alleged crime. 
(11) Most cruise vessels that operate into and 
out of United States ports are registered under the 
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laws of another country, and investigations and 
prosecutions of crimes against passengers and crew 
members may involve the laws and authorities of 
multiple nations. 
(12) The Coast Guard has found it necessary to 
establish 500-yard security zones around cruise ves-
sels to limit the risk of terrorist attack. Recently pi-
racy has dramatically increased throughout the 
world. 
(13) To enhance the safety of cruise pas-
sengers, the owners of cruise vessels could upgrade, 
modernize, and retrofit the safety and security infra-
structure on such vessels by installing peep holes in 
passenger room doors, installing security video cam-
eras in targeted areas, limiting access to passenger 
rooms to select staff during specific times, and in-
stalling acoustic hailing and warning devices capable 
of communicating over distances. 
SEC. 3. CRUISE VESSEL SECURITY AND SAFETY REQUIRE-
MENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 35 of title 46, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(E) The vessel shall be equipped with a 
sufficient number of operable acoustic hailing 
or other such warning devices to provide com-
munication capability around the entire vessel 
when operating in high risk areas (as defined 
by the Coast Guard). 
‘‘(2) FIRE
SAFETY
CODES.—In administering 
the requirements of paragraph (1)(C), the Secretary 
shall take into consideration fire safety and other 
applicable emergency requirements established by 
the Coast Guard and under international law, as ap-
propriate. 
‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), the requirements of para-
graph (1) shall take effect 18 months after the 
date of enactment of the Cruise Vessel Security 
and Safety Act of 2009. 
‘‘(B) LATCH AND KEY REQUIREMENTS.— 
The requirements of paragraph (1)(C) take ef-
fect on the date of enactment of the Cruise Ves-
sel Security and Safety Act of 2009. 
‘‘(b) VIDEO RECORDING.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT
TO
MAINTAIN
SURVEIL-
LANCE.—The owner of a vessel to which this section 
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applies shall maintain a video surveillance system to 
assist in documenting crimes on the vessel and in 
providing evidence for the prosecution of such 
crimes, as determined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(2) ACCESS TO VIDEO RECORDS.—The owner 
of a vessel to which this section applies shall provide 
to any law enforcement official performing official 
duties in the course and scope of an investigation, 
upon request, a copy of all records of video surveil-
lance that the official believes may provide evidence 
of a crime reported to law enforcement officials. 
‘‘(c) SAFETY INFORMATION.—The owner of a vessel 
to which this section applies shall provide in each pas-
senger stateroom, and post in a location readily accessible 
to all crew and in other places specified by the Secretary, 
information regarding the locations of the United States 
embassy and each consulate of the United States for each 
country the vessel will visit during the course of the voy-
age. 
‘‘(d) SEXUAL ASSAULT.—The owner of a vessel to 
which this section applies shall— 
‘‘(1) maintain on the vessel adequate, in-date 
supplies of anti-retroviral medications and other 
medications designed to prevent sexually transmitted 
diseases after a sexual assault; 
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‘‘(2) maintain on the vessel equipment and ma-
terials for performing a medical examination in sex-
ual assault cases to evaluate the patient for trauma, 
provide medical care, and preserve relevant medical 
evidence; 
‘‘(3) make available on the vessel at all times 
medical staff who have undergone a credentialing 
process to verify that he or she— 
‘‘(A) possesses a current physician’s or 
registered nurse’s license and— 
‘‘(i) has at least 3 years of post-grad-
uate or post-registration clinical practice in 
general and emergency medicine; or 
‘‘(ii) holds board certification in emer-
gency medicine, family practice medicine, 
or internal medicine; 
‘‘(B) is able to provide assistance in the 
event of an alleged sexual assault, has received 
training in conducting forensic sexual assault 
examination, and is able to promptly perform 
such an examination upon request and provide 
proper medical treatment of a victim, including 
administration of anti-retroviral medications 
and other medications that may prevent the 
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transmission of human immunodeficiency virus 
and other sexually transmitted diseases; and 
‘‘(C) meets guidelines established by the 
American College of Emergency Physicians re-
lating to the treatment and care of victims of 
sexual assault; 
‘‘(4) prepare, provide to the patient, and main-
tain written documentation of the findings of such 
examination that is signed by the patient; and 
‘‘(5) provide the patient free and immediate ac-
cess to— 
‘‘(A) contact information for local law en-
forcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 
the Coast Guard, the nearest United States 
consulate or embassy, and the National Sexual 
Assault Hotline program or other third party 
victim advocacy hotline service; and 
‘‘(B) a private telephone line and Internet- 
accessible computer terminal by which the indi-
vidual may confidentially access law enforce-
ment officials, an attorney, and the information 
and support services available through the Na-
tional Sexual Assault Hotline program or other 
third party victim advocacy hotline service. 
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‘‘(e) CONFIDENTIALITY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT EXAM-
INATION AND SUPPORT INFORMATION.—The master or 
other individual in charge of a vessel to which this section 
applies shall— 
‘‘(1) treat all information concerning an exam-
ination under subsection (d) confidential, so that no 
medical information may be released to the cruise 
line or other owner of the vessel or any legal rep-
resentative thereof without the prior knowledge and 
approval in writing of the patient, or, if the patient 
is unable to provide written authorization, the pa-
tient’s next-of-kin, except that nothing in this para-
graph prohibits the release of— 
‘‘(A) information, other than medical find-
ings, necessary for the owner or master of the 
vessel to comply with the provisions of sub-
section (g) or other applicable incident report-
ing laws; 
‘‘(B) information to secure the safety of 
passengers or crew on board the vessel; or 
‘‘(C) any information to law enforcement 
officials performing official duties in the course 
and scope of an investigation; and 
‘‘(2) treat any information derived from, or ob-
tained in connection with, post-assault counseling or 
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