WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, delivered the following prepared remarks at today’s “Cruise Industry Oversight: Recent Incidents Show Need for Stronger Focus on Consumer Protection” full committee hearing:

Thank you Mr. Chairman for holding this hearing today. Also, thank you to our witnesses for being here to testify.

Ensuring safety across all modes of transportation is one of this Committee’s most important functions, and recent events in several modes — whether by air, rail, or sea — have demonstrated how challenging this can be. 

This task can be made even more difficult when a vessel, like a cruise ship, must travel through several jurisdictions during a single voyage. 

For instance, when a cruise ship embarks from a U.S. port, the cruise line must ensure compliance with safety regulations through coordination with the industry, the U.S. Coast Guard, and with foreign governments in countries through which the cruise ship is passing, either by sailing in foreign territorial waters or docking at a port within a foreign government’s jurisdiction.

While the cruise ship industry’s safety record is generally good, there have been a few troubling incidents in recent years. The most tragic of these was the fatal accident involving the Costa Concordia, which ran aground off the coast of Italy in 2012.

Thankfully, other recent incidents, including those involving ships departing from U.S. ports, have not resulted in fatalities or significant injuries.

Nevertheless, these particular incidents, which received significant media attention, did underscore the challenges and discomfort that passengers can be subjected to — including days without power or plumbing — and raised questions about the protections afforded to U.S. passengers.

In the wake of these incidents, the cruise ship industry has taken several noteworthy steps to further ensure the safety and comfort of its customers and crews. 

The industry should be commended for its adoption of the “Cruise Industry Passenger Bill of Rights,” which includes the right to disembark from a ship if essential provisions cannot be provided, the right to a refund for a trip canceled due to mechanical failures, and the right to an emergency power source in the case of a generator failure. 

As the Chairman has noted, however, the Committee has an interest in ensuring that these commitments are translating into better experiences for passengers. So, I look forward to hearing more from our witnesses about these and other steps the cruise industry has taken to improve safety.

Additionally, I am interested in hearing from the Coast Guard about any recommendations stemming from their investigations of recent cruise ship incidents and the work they are doing at the Cruise Ship National Center of Expertise in Everglades, Florida.

Thank you again Mr. Chairman for holding this hearing and thank you to the witnesses for their willingness to testify. 

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