Oversight of the Cruise Ship Industry: Are Current Regulations Sufficient to Protect Passengers and the Environment?
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S. HRG. 112–650 OVERSIGHT OF THE CRUISE SHIP INDUSTRY: ARE CURRENT REGULATIONS SUFFICIENT TO PROTECT PASSENGERS AND THE ENVIRONMENT? HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MARCH 1, 2012 Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 77–338 PDF WASHINGTON : 2012 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:05 Dec 12, 2012 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\GPO\DOCS\77338.TXT JACKIE SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia, Chairman DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas, Ranking JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine BARBARA BOXER, California JIM DEMINT, South Carolina BILL NELSON, Florida JOHN THUNE, South Dakota MARIA CANTWELL, Washington ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia MARK PRYOR, Arkansas ROY BLUNT, Missouri CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania TOM UDALL, New Mexico MARCO RUBIO, Florida MARK WARNER, Virginia KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire MARK BEGICH, Alaska DEAN HELLER, Nevada ELLEN L. DONESKI, Staff Director JAMES REID, Deputy Staff Director JOHN WILLIAMS, General Counsel TODD BERTOSON, Republican Staff Director JARROD THOMPSON, Republican Deputy Staff Director REBECCA SEIDEL, Republican General Counsel and Chief Investigator (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:05 Dec 12, 2012 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\77338.TXT JACKIE C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on March 1, 2012 .............................................................................. 1 Statement of Senator Rockefeller ........................................................................... 1 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 4 Statement of Senator Rubio .................................................................................... 5 Statement of Senator Isakson ................................................................................. 6 Statement of Senator Begich .................................................................................. 9 Statement of Senator Nelson .................................................................................. 10 Statement of Senator Lautenberg .......................................................................... 11 Statement of Senator Klobuchar ............................................................................ 99 Statement of Senator Boozman .............................................................................. 102 WITNESSES Vice Admiral Brian M. Salerno, Deputy Commandant for Operations, Depart- ment of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard ................................................. 12 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 14 Bill Johnson, Director, PortMiami, Miami-Dade County ..................................... 19 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 22 Captain William H. Doherty, Director of Maritime Relations, Nexus Con- sulting Corporation .............................................................................................. 25 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 27 Ross A. Klein, Ph.D., Professor, School of Social Work, St. John’s College, Memorial University of Newfoundland .............................................................. 38 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 40 Christine Duffy, President and CEO, Cruise Lines International Association .. 83 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 85 APPENDIX Response to written questions submitted to Vice Admiral Brian M. Salerno by: Hon. John D. Rockefeller IV ............................................................................ 117 Hon. Barbara Boxer ......................................................................................... 118 Hon. Amy Klobuchar ........................................................................................ 122 Hon. Tom Udall ................................................................................................ 122 Hon. Mark Begich ............................................................................................. 122 Hon. John Boozman ......................................................................................... 123 Hon. Marco Rubio ............................................................................................. 124 Response to written questions submitted to Bill Johnson by: Hon. Marco Rubio ............................................................................................. 124 Response to written questions submitted to Dr. Ross A. Klein by: Hon. Barbara Boxer ......................................................................................... 125 Hon. Amy Klobuchar ........................................................................................ 128 Response to written questions submitted to Christine Duffy by: Hon. John D. Rockefeller IV ............................................................................ 129 Hon. Barbara Boxer ......................................................................................... 136 Hon. Amy Klobuchar ........................................................................................ 138 Hon. Mark Begich ............................................................................................. 139 Hon. Tom Udall ................................................................................................ 142 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:05 Dec 12, 2012 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\77338.TXT JACKIE VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:05 Dec 12, 2012 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\77338.TXT JACKIE OVERSIGHT OF THE CRUISE SHIP INDUSTRY: ARE CURRENT REGULATIONS SUFFICIENT TO PROTECT PASSENGERS AND THE ENVIRONMENT? THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2012 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m. in Room SR– 253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. John D. Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the Committee, presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, U.S. SENATOR FROM WEST VIRGINIA The CHAIRMAN. Good morning. We have, as usual, a complicated, potentially fluctuating morning schedule. I know that one thing will not fluctuate and that’s the 11:00 o’clock vote, and I’d like to get as much of this done but will come back if more members, I hope, will appear. We have Georgia and Alaska and West Virginia, which should be enough to cover the country but there ought to be more people here and they probably will be here. And I’m very glad that you are and first of all, I want to say to the Coast Guard that I feel very sad about the helicopter crash that happened in Mobile Bay, and it was just Tuesday night, wasn’t it? Admiral SALERNO. Yes, sir. The CHAIRMAN. My thoughts and the Committee’s thoughts are with the families and also with the Coast Guard on this because the Coast Guard is a family unto itself. Admiral SALERNO. Thank you, sir. The CHAIRMAN. I got that correct, didn’t I? All right. Let me give my opening statement. Senator Rubio will be along and Senator Isakson has a one-hour-and-three-quarter speech. One minute? OK. I knew that actually. It’s fun teasing you. He’s a good friend. He’s a Braves fan. The cruise ship industry is large, it’s successful and it’s very profitable. The industry’s revenues top $25 billion a year. Nearly 13 million Americans, including a couple of my own children, took a cruise last year, although I think they did it the year before. But they enjoyed it. The industry is growing with larger and larger ships entering service every year. Some ships will carry over 5,000 passengers and a crew, and I can’t speak for Alaska and Georgia but in West Vir- (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:05 Dec 12, 2012 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\DOCS\77338.TXT JACKIE 2 ginia terms that would be a modern cruise ship carrying the entire population of most West Virginia towns. So they’re floating private cities. A unique and complex set of international rules governs the operations of the ship and the safe- ty of the passengers. This is a safety committee, the Commerce Committee. We are a safety committee. We do many things but safety is always on top. I believe that these rules work, really, to protect the companies more than to protect their passengers. If there are those who dis- agree with it, I’m sure they will so say. In any event, we’re here today to examine whether existing regulations are in fact sufficient to protect the health and safety of passengers and the fragile ocean environment in which they operate, and I recognize some of you testified yesterday before the House and this is something