How many people go missing on cruise ships? Cruises are often lauded as the perfect vacation; a combination of relaxation and adventure, paired with an array of exciting activities. But while they may be idyllic for many passengers, there’s also been growing concern that cruises might not be as safe as we think when we board cruise ships.
How many people go missing on cruise ships?
Since 2000, around 400 people, including both passengers and crew members, have been reported missing from cruise ships. Despite this, cruising remains a popular vacation choice, with approximately 30 million people taking a cruise in the year prior to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Whether you're booking a cruise with Carnival Cruise Lines or Royal Caribbean please be aware that falling overboard is not an uncommon scenario. Please be aware of your safety so you do not become a missing passenger.
Over the years, reports have emerged, both anecdotally and in news stories across the globe, suggesting that some cruise liners could harbor darker secrets – primarily regarding mysterious disappearances by sea. This begs the question: how many people actually go missing on cruise ships? Read on to learn more about unsolved mysteries at sea and why so little is known about these cases.
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction:
2. Historical Timeline of Disappearances on Cruise Ships
3. The Issues Behind Missing Persons Investigations at Sea
4. Data-Driven Insight into How Many People are Going Missing on Cruise Ships
5. Conclusion: Summary of Critical Points and Possible Solutions
In recent years, according to the Cruise lines international association the number of people who go missing on cruise ships has come under increasing scrutiny. While precise figures are hard to come by, a combination of anecdotal evidence and news reports suggest that this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. The International Cruise Victims Association (ICV) claims that upwards of 1,000 people are unaccounted for each year from cruise-related incidents, but due to the lack of oversight or regulation in this area, it's difficult to accurately assess how many people actually go missing while on a cruise ship.
Merrian Carver
In August 2004, Merrian Carver vanished during a Royal Caribbean Cruise to Alaska. She had traveled alone and had only used her cabin on the first night of the seven-day journey. On the second day, she was reported missing by one of the crew members, but the ship made no efforts to search for her. It was suggested that she may have slept in another cabin or disembarked at one of the ports, and at the end of the cruise, her belongings were found and donated to charity without any notification of her disappearance.
Carver's family filed a missing person report after not hearing from her for several days, unaware that she had even gone on a cruise. Royal Caribbean declared her disappearance a suicide, other believes that she may have been thrown overboard, but without a proper investigation, Carver's family will never know what happened to her.
Amy Bradley
In March 1998, Amy Bradley, a 23-year-old woman from Virginia, disappeared during a Royal Caribbean International cruise with her family. She was last seen in a club on the ship, where she had spent the evening drinking with the house band until around 1 am, when she left on her own. She was later seen by her father sleeping on the balcony of their cabin at around 5:30 am, but when he checked again at 6 am, she was gone. Some believed she fell overboard.
After the ship docked in Curaçao, a coast guard search for Bradley began, and some tourists reported seeing her in the area. There have been suggestions that Bradley was kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery, as a Navy man claimed to have met her in a brothel where she told him her name and that she was being held captive.
She was also reportedly seen in Barbados in 2005, and Amy's parents received a photo of a woman who could have been her, scantily clad. Despite these potential leads, Bradley has never been found.
Rebecca Coriam
On May 22, 2011, Rebecca Coriam, a 24-year-old employee on the Disney Wonder cruise ship, vanished while the ship was sailing off the coast of Mexico. In the last known sighting of her, she was seen on surveillance video talking on one of the ship's internal phones, appearing upset. A passenger asked if she was okay and it seems that she replied affirmatively before hanging up and walking away, never to be seen again.
In December 2004, Annette Mizener, a 37-year-old woman, won a vacation on Carnival Cruise line and went on the trip with her teenage daughter and her parents. On the night of her disappearance, she sang karaoke with her daughter and visited the casino, but failed to meet her parents as planned to play Bingo. Her father started searching for her and found her handbag near the railings, leading many to believe that she fell, jumped, or was pushed overboard.
These are just a few stories of missing people. It's alarming that two passengers can completely disappear on vacation with no trace to the point where cruise ships stop search.
Historical Timeline of Disappearances on Cruise Ships
Cruise ships have a long and storied history of transportation, adventure, and discovery. Unfortunately, they have also had a long history of mysterious disappearances as well. These disappearances are often unsolved and much speculation surrounds them as to what really happened.
The earliest known disappearance on record dates back to the year 1872, when an American passenger vessel called the Mary Celeste was found abandoned with all its crew and passengers missing. Since then, there have been a number of unexplained cases involving passengers simply vanishing without a trace while aboard cruise ships. In each case, no bodies were ever recovered or any clues were left behind to explain why people suddenly vanished from these vessels.
In recent years, disappearances onboard cruise ships have become more commonplace due to increased security measures by the industry itself. However, even with these improvements there are still cases that remain unsolved and cause much debate between experts who theorize on possible causes for these unexplainable disappearances.
The Issues Behind Missing Persons Investigations at Sea
Missing persons investigations at sea are a complex and difficult task for authorities to handle. It is not uncommon for someone to go missing at sea, and the difficulties of investigating such cases can be daunting for those involved in the process. Not only must investigators make sense of what happened in order to find out if there was foul play involved, but they must also investigate any potential leads that may exist in order to locate the missing person. Furthermore, due to the vastness of the ocean, it can be difficult for search teams to cover all potential areas where a missing person may have gone or been taken. Additionally, dealing with maritime law and jurisdiction issues can often complicate matters further.
For example, if a boat is registered in one country but has gone adrift on another country’s waters, jurisdictional issues may arise and cause confusion as to which country’s laws should apply during the investigation process. Furthermore, even if authorities are able to track down a missing vessel or determine its destination prior to going off radar, they may not always be able to access certain vessels or countries due to legal restrictions or political tensions between nations. These kinds of issues can make it even more challenging for investigators to piece together what happened and assess potential threats without direct access to evidence or personnel on the ground.
Data-Driven Insight into How Many People are Going Missing on Cruise Ships
Cruise ships are the epitome of luxury and leisure, but they can also be an incredibly dangerous place for passengers. This is due to the alarming amount of people who have gone missing from cruise ships over the years. In fact, a recent study revealed that, over the past 10 years, there has been an average of about 1,400 people going missing from cruise ships each year.
What's more concerning is that many of these cases go unresolved and remain unsolved even after extensive investigations by law enforcement officials. This raises questions as to why so many people are going missing on cruise ships and why authorities are unable to provide answers in most cases. In addition, the circ*mstances behind these disappearances vary greatly; some seem suspicious while others appear accidental or voluntary.
