By Felix Hutt (Translated by Rainier Wendel - Edited by Sarah Alexander)
December 2007 - Park Avenue Magazine (Germany)
The German saying goes: eine Seefahrt die ist lustig, eine Seefahrt die ist schön Loosely translated: A cruise is fun; a cruise is nice. However, cruises arent always so fun, or nice. Every so often passengers disappear without a trace from cruise ships. Thenumber of cases solved are few and the cruise lines tend to cover up the facts. They imply that its the persons own fault if he or she goes overboard. Are people with suicidal tendencies more likely to book a cruise? In front of an Eurasian restaurant leaves are on the ground and pretty soon it will be closing time. Son Michael Pham, 53, is having curry soup, and although he tells his sad story, he does not cry. Showing emotion is a weakness in the eyes of the Vietnamese born. His tie is carefully fastened, his shirt is crisp and white, and his fingernailsare cut as meticulously as his hair. He wants to tell his parents story so people understand the magnitude of their disappearance. He wants to explain what the disappearance has done to his family, and why he, a pacifist, has become a person essentially at war with the cruise industry. Take a look, I have three phones, says Pham, One for business, one for private use,and one I never turn off. That one is for the victims. It rings so often. It rang on January 1, 2007. It was a call from Hamburg, and the voice at the other end was in distress. The callers mother disappeared, just like that. They wanted to know what could be done, and to learn more about what happened. Sabine L., 62, her husband Ludwig L., 73, and another couple boarded the Queen Elizabeth II in Southampton on December 17, 2006, for a two-week cruise. He is a retired business man and she, a housewife who likes horseback riding and golf. They have two healthy and successful sons. The cruise took them via Malaga and Gibraltar to Lanzarote (The Canary Islands), where they were excited to celebrate Christmas. Both couples, from Hamburg-Wellingsbuettel, were very social on board and often played bridge with their fellow passengers. Most of the games were won by Sabine. One morning, Sabine took a swim in the pool while Ludwig was still asleep. The two planned to meet up again for breakfast. On December 30th, the QE2 stopped at Madeira. Sabine, who had just become a grandmother to twins, decided to do some shopping. Later, her purse got stolen, but she refused to let that spoil her good mood. Over dinner that evening, the couple discussed how excited they were that this would be their first New Years Eve ever spent on a cruise ship. They wanted to be well rested for it, so they went to bed at about midnight in room number 5167 on Deck 5. Ludwig slept heavily that night, so whether his wife got up once again or decided to go for a swim early the next morning, he could not know. Sabine was never to be seen again. Over the last four years, 37 people have disappeared from cruise ships. The estimated number of unrecorded cases is higher, as a lot of missing are not recorded. The latestcase occurred on December 27, 2007 in the Aegean sea, Greece. A woman from Bad Honnef was cruising with her husband on board the Costa Atlantica when she disappeared. In Phoenix, Arizona somebody is missing, too. Kendall Carver, 71, does notbelieve in the myth of the sea swallowing his daughter without anybodynoticing. He is about to get justice for his loved one. For that, Ken Carver fights a fight which will be difficult to win. I may or may not change the industry but if one less dies, Ive achieved a lot. They would have never thought a victim would go as far as I have. That somebody would spent tens of thousands of dollars for the truth, Carver said. Fate just chose the wrong victim. Here, in the Paradise Valley where the sun always shines, Ken and Carol Carver have made their home. But they donīt feel like theyre in paradise, more like theyre in Hell. The Carvers have a wide driveway lined with cactus plants in front of their home. They have a pool and four guest rooms for their grown daughters. The one for the oldest has not been used in years. She will return, Carol says before leaving the office on the 1st floor. She is dead, says Ken, in tears. On September 1, 2004 his granddaughter called. (She lives with her father in London.) He and Merrian Carver are divorced. His granddaughter had not been able to reach her Mom for two days. It would appear as though her cell phone was turned off the whole time. Ken Carver knew something was wrong. He turns to the Cambridge Police Department in Massachusetts in the hopes of finding answers. The police were able to get access to Merrians bank statements. One transaction showed that she paid for a cruise on the Celebrity Mercury. (Celebrity is a Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL) member.) The final part of her cruise went from Seattle to Vancouver on this very popular Alaskan cruise. Carver called RCCL, and after three days, they confirmed that Merrian was indeed on board but did not returnto her cabin after the second night. She was seen for the last time on August 28, 2004. It is not always unusual that passengers do not return to their cabins. There are lots of activities on board. Whether or not Merrian got off the ship in Vancouver they could not confirm. And it would not be possible to talk to a steward or security guard, and any video surveillance had already been erased. It would be up to the FBI to investigate. Ken Carver called the FBI and also hired a large international Private Investigator Firm based in New York City. He sent private investigators on board, which were met by RCCLs Risk Management Team. Every cruise line has a Risk Management or a Care Team to prevent possible harm, comfort relatives, and try to come to peaceful solutions. But seeing that Carver was far from being at peace, he filed a claim against RCCL. On January 16, 2005, four and a half months after his daughter was last seen, Carver, after spending over $75,000 in lawyer and private investigators charges, waspermitted by a court order to speak to the steward responsible for Merrian Carverīs cabin. The steward said he reported Merrian missing for five days after she was last seen. He noticed that her cabin had been unused by Merrian. When he brought this to his supervisors attention, he was told to forget about it and just do his job. At the end of the cruise he asked the supervisor what to do with her luggage. The supervisor told him that he would take care of it and to place her personal items in his locker. Most of these items were later disposed of by the cruise line. Ken Carver wrote letter after letter to RCCL and received no reply. The investigation came up with an internal email from the ship, setting up the cover-up the third week after Merrian was reported missing. When Ken Carver tried to talk to the supervisor he found out that RCCL had transferred him to Greece following the cruise. When he found him there, Carver was told that he had no right to investigate in Greece and to leave the man alone. His attempts to find out anything more about what happened to his daughter were futile. Behind his glasses tears of anger appear in his sad eyes. Every time he weeps during our interview, his voice disappears into a whisper which further reveals his frustration.Why, he says, why would they try to cover it up if it was supposed to be a suicide? That does not make sense. It doesn't make sense either to long-time cruise specialist Dr. Ross Klein, professor of sociology at the University of Newfoundland, Canada. For him, Merrian Carver and Sabine L. appear to be collateral damage in an industry too big for its own good. The cruise line boom began in the U.S. in the mid 1970s and spread worldwide soon thereafter. Back then, the television show The Love Boat was watched by more then 50 million viewers per episode. A man named Ted Arison revolutionized the outdated cruise ships by coining his Carnival Cruise Line ships the Fun Ships, some sort of amusement-park-floating-on-the-sea with themed restaurants, water slides, casinos, clubs, and theaters. Class gives way to mass, and soon profits were no longer made with the cruise rates but instead with the money passengers spent on board the ships and on shore side stops. After September 11, 2001, the cruise line industry reached another high. Many passengers began to see cruising as a safe alternative to flying. With about 15 million passengers per year, the cruise industry is the worldīs fastest growing sector of tourism overall. The Carnival Corporation has a 50+% market share. It contains twelve companies that include Cunard, Aida, Holland America, Princess Cruises, and Costa. Ted Arison is a regular in Forbeīs Top 100 List of the richest people in the world. In 2006 alone, Carnival made a profit of 2.3 billion dollars. One of Carnivals biggest rivals is Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, which owns, amongstothers, the Freedom of the Seas and the Voyager of the Seas. RCCL has about 30% market share, and the owner is Richard D. Fain. Carnival and RCCL control more than 80% of the market and are the only cruise companies on the New York Stock Exchange. Arison and Fain are passionate competitors and have tried to top each other for years by creating even bigger ships. Carnival is right now building the Pinnacle Class with capacity for more than 4000 passengers while RCCL is countering that with ProjectGenesis which is being built in Oslo at the cost of more than 1.24 billion dollars and a capacity of 6400 passengers. Both ships are projected to be complete in 2009. ProjectGenesis will be the worldīs largest cruise ship - a title is quite significant in a business where marketing means everything and incidents like that of Sabine L. from Hamburg are discouraged from being brought to the publics eye. Sabine L. has been missing now for more than a year. A family member originally said they didnīt want to go public, because as one can imagine, its hard enough to just cope with the disappearance at all. But it was Cunards unbelievable handling of the case that eventually led them to speak out about it with Park Avenue. When Sabine didnīt show up for breakfast at 11am, her husband was surprised and contacted the steward who in turn tried to calm Ludwig down. The steward suggested that maybe she went for a walk on the deck after swimming. But when she failed to show for lunch, the QE2 began the search. After two hours the ship turned around to search for her in the water. In the afternoon, her husband was allowed to call a relative in Hamburg, who contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the police, the search and rescue team in Bremen, and around 5pm he called Cunard in England. The call was answered by a woman who knew nothing about the incident nor that the QE2 even belonged to the Cunard Group. It was late and the woman didnīt seem to want to be bothered any further on New Years Eve. Finally, they managed to reach the receptionist on board the QE2. The captain was not available to receive any calls, they were told. On board, the search ended and the QE2 continued her voyage to Southampton. Dinner was served in the dining room as if nothing ever happened. The relative that Ludwig had contacted searched their home in Hamburg to try and find something, anything that would solve the mystery as to what happened to Sabine. He went through the mail, bank accounts, and email, but came up with nothing - no clues and no good-bye letter. Sabine L. was a very healthy woman, with a happy life, and was looking forward to celebrating the recent birth of her grandchildren. A call to Cunard USA again ended up at a call center, and even though the relative felt like he was getting nowhere, he refused to give up. After a day and a half, he finally reached someone he thought could help: the Vice-President of the company! She tried to be understanding, and said she did not believe it was suicide because in 14 out of 15 cases she knew about, the victim always left a note. The ship, being so old, only had security cameras in the casino and the stores. Later, theyfound that a brochure proudly claimed that there are even cameras in the engine room. Cunard claimed they did everything possible to aid in the investigation and that police in Southampton would be taking over the case. When the ship arrived in Southampton, Ludwig L. left the ship without his wife. Nobody, not the Captain nor the Steward said good-bye to him, this man who had lost his wife of 40 years, his love, and the rest of his life. Ludwig flew home. Four hours later, the QE2 continued the trip to New York. Owen Davies from the Southampton Police Department said that they would still investigate but that theyd be handling a lot of other cases as well. In Hamburg, police investigated Sabines medical history and found no sign of physical or psychological illness. So, what happened to Sabine L.? Of course there are chances it was suicide, even if the chances are small, the relative said, the chances are better it was an accident or a crime. No matter how bad it is what happened, I just want to know. Its the uncertainty that keeps you awake and wonīt give you closure. Park Avenue contacted Ingo Thiel, responsible for Cunardīs Public Relations in Germany, to find out any details we could about the case. As far as the cruise line is concerned, the case is closed and the police in Southampton are in charge now. We had helicopters from Portugal and airplanes from Ireland searching, and we had theQE2 turned around. There is nothing more that could have been done, said Thiel, Youshould consider how much all of that was. Sabine L. might have committed suicide. Maybe Merrian Carver and the other missingpeople did, too. But consider this: Arent there simpler ways for one to commit suicide? It should also be mentioned that security on board those giant ships is questionable. To find out how these floating theme parks and their passengers are taken care of, ParkAvenue sent a questionnaire to Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Hapag Lloyd, Aida and Color Line. We asked such questions as: How many security guards are on board? How and where are they trained? How do you secure your passengers from terrorists? Where is the crew from?What kinds of wages does the crew earn, and who supervises crew members? Only two cruise lines answered. Aida and Hapag Lloyd sent emails, bragging about their cruises and stating that security is not an issue, but that they would not be able to go into any details. There was no word about where the crew members are from, how much they are being paid, or how they are trained. Terry Dale, president of Cruise Lines International Association(CLIA) from the cruise capitol of the world, Miami, said, Security personnel include former soldiers who are trained well. The security of the passengers is the highest priority on board. This is what highest priority in reality looks like: The Brich family, booked athree-day cruise from Kiel, Germany to Oslo round trip, on the Color Fantasyof Color Line Company. The ship had a car deck, a spa, a gym and many restaurants. There is also a casino for the 2750 passengers. For all of this, the Brichs believed they were getting a great bargain and booked two tickets for 99 each online. On November 4, 2007, they arrived at the terminal to pick up their tickets. Since Mrs. Brich didn't bring her passport, Mr. Brich went to the ticket booth alone. He showed confirmation of the reservation and received the tickets. He was not required to show any identification for himself or his wife. On board is a small gate that opens when you swipe the ticket. There was no metal detector, no x-ray technology, and nobody to check out your clothes or luggage. At 2:00pm sharp the ship left the pier. If, instead of Mrs. Brich, a terrorist,gangster, or drug dealer was traveling with Mr Brich, no one would have been the wiser. They arrived in Oslo the next morning at 9:00. The Brichs got off the ship and left their luggage behind. What if there had been a bomb in their luggage?? People get on board and think, If something happens, I will just call the police,But there are no police out on the ocean, Charles Lipcon writes in his book Unsafeon the High Seas. The lawyer from Miami has helped many victims of cruise shipcrimes. The list of victims on his website, CruiseBruise.Com grows longer and longer everyday. His clients are not only family members of missing people, but also women and children assaulted and raped by crew members, and passengers who had fallen ill on board and received poor or no treatment. Lipcon says, On board a ship with more than 2500 passengers there is one supervisor for eight security officers, who work in shifts, so that not more than four are on-duty at one time. Other experts also agree that the missing are most likely victims of crimes committed by the crew. The BBC documentary, The Price of Fun, reported that employees like bartenders, housekeepers, and others often come from third world countries. To obtain jobs on ships, they often buy themselves into it with up to $2000 under the table. Though cruise lines claim their crews are well rested, most of them work up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, and up to ten months with no break. Their wages are often less than $50 a month. They rely on tips and that is how they provide for their families. To add insult to injury, crew members tend to be surrounded by passengers who bring lots of money on board, and wear expensive jewelry while they gamble in the casino. Its a case of first world meeting third world. One is living it up while the other is struggling to survive.
Back at the restaurant, Son Michael Pham takes only a sip of the soup. Before his parents disappearance, he says he was a good eater. To Phams advantage, the
suicide theory, that is too often used by the cruise lines, does not fit his parents case at all. Their story is simply too extraordinary. On April 30, 1975, the last day of the Vietnam war, Saigon fell into the hands of the Communists. This was a death sentence to Hue Pham, a General, his wife, who was working for an American-owned company, and their five children. Hue Pham strapped his little daughter and Son Michael with his disabled brother, a polio survivor, on his back, and they fled. In the harbor of Saigon, they jumped onto a container ship. They were without food and water for two weeks when the ship was discovered by the United States Air Force. The Phams were brought to a fugitive camp in the U.S. where they were eventually adopted by a Catholic community in Chicago. My Dad had to repair railroad tracks by hand on his knees and my Mom worked in a assembly plant, but none of that mattered because we were finally free, says Michael Pham, Why would the sea save my parents only to take their lives 30 years later? Can you explain that to me? The Phams knew a thing or two about survival and therefore settled in quickly. When they retired, his parents moved to Orange County, California, and lived in a small town with other Vietnamese people. In November of 2004, Son Michael Phams biggest wish had come true. His parents wanted to return to Vietnam for the first time in 30 years to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. For Motherīs Day, Son Michael and his sister, Sharon presented their parents with the gift of a cruise! On May 9, 2005, along with Sharon, one of their granddaughters, and a friend, Hue Pham, 71, and his wife Hue Tran, 67, boarded the Destiny in San Juan, Puerto Rico. All five of them shared a state-cabin. On Thursday night, the ship took course to Aruba where Hue Pham and Hue Tran saw a show and had some dinner. The others stayed in the cabin and watched television. The date was May 12, 2005 and the Phams would never be seen again. Just before midnight, the telephone in the cabin rang. It was the front desk letting Sharon know there was something there for her to retrieve. She went to the reception desk and there, a steward handed her a plastic bag. Inside the bag were her parents sandals and her mothers wallet that they said had been found on the deck. The following morning, Son Michael Pham received the call from his sister: His parents were missing. The crew waited more than four hours before they called the U.S. Coast Guard. The ship just continued on course. There was no announcement made. It was late and the crew did not want to disturb the other passengers. Thirteen hours later, the search was called off. Son Michael flew to his parents home in California, but found no clues that would indicate they had purposefully taken their own lives. He called Carnival Cruise Line, who told him that the appropriate authorities were in charge now. He called the FBI who said they would do their best with the case. He ruled out suicide but did mention an employee who had made racial comments about his parents while he was snooping around their cabin, but he wanted to be careful not to speculate. I always tell myself, says Son Michael, that Mum and Dad were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He received no help from Carnival. Along with Ken Carver, Son Michael Pham founded the International Cruise Victims Association (ICVA). On their website, www.internationalcruisevictims.org, they offer help to victims and families of victims. They have an emergency number on it that goes directly to Son Michael Phamīs cell phone. He says, It is the systems fault, and theyve been backed by politics for years. To lower costs, ships cruise under the flags of countries like Liberia, Panama, or the Bahamas. They do it to avoid tax payments laws and to protect the employees like in Germany or the U.S. They hire cheap labor and invest in publicity to present the image of a romantic dream vacation. The cruise lines try to keep incidents like that under the radar because they fear nothing like they fear bad publicity. They profit from families not knowing who to contact. With every missing person, they say it looks a lot like suicide. This industry is about billions of dollars and they have a strong lobby, says Ken Carver. He, Son Michael Pham, and others have testified to Congress in Washington, DC four times and have presented a 10-point plan to improve safety and security on cruise ships. Little progress has been made. Carver met with Senator John Kerry, who supports the need for mandatory independent security personnel on board. Many media outlets such as The Guardian in London and the Los Angeles Times have also gotten involved and shown their support for cruise victims. Son Michael Pham appeared on CNN. Dr. Ross Klein shows victims statistics on his website CruiseJunkie.Com. His new book, Cruise Ship Squeeze: The New Pirates of the Seven Seas speaks of the machination of the industry. Our only chance is publicity. Weve seen that when Big Players here in America become publicity problems, they move their ships to Europe or Asia. Our work is not for nothing, Carver says. His wife still believes her daughter will come back home. Sabines family only heard from Cunard once more. A check arrived in the mail, refunding the money she spent on her dream cruise. It would appear her disappearance was free of charge.
