The International Council of Cruise Lines
(ICCL) welcomes the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision regarding
whether the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to
ships entering the United States, and how to reconcile conflicts
with foreign and international laws and safety regulations.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court recognized the complexity
of the application of domestic US laws to ships at sea. While
ruling that Title III of the ADA is applicable to foreign ships
in US waters, the court also decided that any structural alterations
under the ADA must be “readily achievable,” not conflict with
international safety requirements, nor interfere with the internal
operation of the ship. The court also ruled that “Title III’s
own limitations and qualifications prevent the statute from
imposing requirements that would conflict with the international
obligations or threaten shipboard safety.”
In its opinion, the court recognized the
numerous technical issues that are associated with harmonizing
accessibility and safety requirements for ships. The International
Convention for Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), ratified by the
United States, dictates particular design, construction and
operation standards for all oceangoing ships. These include
maintenance of water tight compartments, fire safe zones, unobstructed
emergency egress and mandatory participation in fire drills.
Unlike buildings, ships must be completely self sufficient in
the remote event of a maritime emergency as they do not have
immediate access to shore side resources when on the high seas.
For guests with special needs, the popularity
of cruising is due in large part to the great strides made by
ICCL member lines in making ships more and more accessible.
Many find cruises to be more convenient and accessible than
destinations outside the United States. Despite the unique challenges
invariably encountered when sailing on the ocean, ICCL cruise
ships routinely accommodate wheelchairs, electric mobility devices
and service animals; provide wheelchair-accessible cabins and
communication auxiliary aids; and make every reasonable effort
without sacrificing safety to accommodate all guests.
The cruise industry’s responsiveness in accommodating
guests worldwide has resulted in a substantial and growing number
of travelers with special needs choosing this form of vacation
experience. Cruise lines continue to offer an accessible vacation
option although neither the ADA nor any subsequent regulations
have clarified precisely what foreign-built ships must do to
reconcile accessibility with mandatory international safety
standards.
ICCL will continue to work with the US Access
Board to ensure that regulations under development will properly
reflect this opinion of the Supreme Court. It will also work
hard to ensure that cruise ships remain one of the most accessible
vacations available to all travelers.
ICCL Statement On Future Passport Requirements
For All US Citizens
The 2005 Intelligence Reform Bill contained
a provision, based on the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission,
that addressed future passport requirements for all US citizens.
Under Section 7209, the US Department of Homeland Security is
required to devise a plan to require a passport (or other accepted
document) for all US citizens for any travel they may incur
from foreign countries into the United States, eliminating the
current passport exemption for travel within the Western Hemisphere.
The implementation date is January 1, 2008.
To implement the law, currently referred
to as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), the government
proposed a phased-in approach for different regions in the Western
Hemisphere under the following timeline:
• December 31, 2005 – Passport or
other accepted document required for all air and sea travel
to or from the Caribbean, Bermuda and Central and South America.
• December 31, 2006 – Passport or
other accepted document required for all air or sea travel to
or from Mexico and Canada.
• December 31, 2007 – Passport or
other accepted document required for all air, sea and land border
crossings.
The International Council of Cruise Lines
(ICCL) has serious concerns with these timelines as it does
not allow sufficient time for travelers to comply with the requirements,
and treats the Caribbean, Bermuda and Central and South America
unfairly. The Caribbean is the most heavily visited cruise destination
in the world, accounting for approximately 45 percent of all
cruise ship visits. In many instances, cruise passengers traveling
to the Caribbean have already booked their cruises for 2006.
Currently, the State Department estimates that only 20 percent
or less of all Americans have passports.
The ICCL’s highest priority is the safety
and security of our passengers and crew, and we clearly understand
that the government has a legitimate need to enhance the security
at the borders. Requiring a standardized identification document,
(e.g. passport) is an important aspect of that effort and it
simplifies the process of border crossings to have a single
recognized document in place. The cruise industry supported
the inclusion of the provision as a policy, but asked that when
the government proposed regulations to implement the program,
sufficient time be allotted to allow for the public to understand
the new rules, and for the industry to be able to communicate
the new requirements to their customers, and most importantly,
for the public to obtain their passports.
There is no basis for treating travelers
to the Caribbean, Bermuda, and Central and South Americans any
differently from others. Implementation of all phases of the
WHTI should be delayed until January 2008. Delaying the implementation
date will give much needed time to the federal government, the
travel industry, and most importantly, the traveling public,
to adapt to the new passport program.
According to the US Coast Guard, cruising is one of the safest
modes of transportation. Over the past two decades, an estimated
90 million passengers safely enjoyed a cruise vacation. During
this period not one passenger death due to a marine incident
has been reported on any International Council of Cruise Lines
(ICCL) member cruise vessel operating from a U.S. port. Cruise
ships are built to the highest structural stability standards,
as set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The
Norwegian Dawn, affected by a freak wave on April 16, 2005,
is part of the fleet represented by the ICCL and is an excellent
example of the high level of structural integrity found on today’s
cruise ships. All ICCL member ships comply with IMO standards
governing the operation of cruise vessels worldwide, including
the design, construction and operation of ocean-going vessels.
These regulations are codified in the Safety of Life at Sea
(SOLAS) Convention and are closely monitored by both flag and
port states, including the U.S. Coast Guard.
The cruise industry cooperates with the U.S. Coast Guard and
other maritime nations to assure the safety of passengers. To
ensure compliance with SOLAS, the Coast Guard examines each
cruise vessel that visits a U.S. port during its itinerary when
it is under construction, when it first enters service at a
U.S. port, and quarterly thereafter. The examinations emphasize
structural integrity, safety and proper life-saving equipment.
The highest priority of the ICCL is to ensure a safe and secure
cruise vacation. The ICCL will continue to work closely with
the international maritime community to ensure the safety of
its passengers, crew and ships.
For more information, please visit www.iccl.org/policies/safety.cfm
.
The membership of the International Council of Cruise Lines
(ICCL) is committed to keeping the oceans clean. It is in our
inherent interest to protect the very lifeblood upon which our
industry is built. The legislation re-introduced in April targets
an industry that represents two-tenths of one percent of the
world’s ships, and the environmental standards of the
ICCL already meet or exceed current international and U.S. environmental
regulations. “This approach is especially ironic in light
of the fact that the industry has adopted practices that reduce
its impact on coastal water quality to zero,” said Michael
Crye, president, ICCL. “We still feel that while perhaps
well-intentioned, this legislation broadly addresses issues
for which there is no current scientific support.”
Even if the allegations made in this legislation were true,
the pollution produced would represent a fraction of one percent
of the coastal water quality issues in this country. According
to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission
Report, land-based sources are pinpointed as the primary threat
to coastal ocean waters. The members of the ICCL are committed
to being a large part of the overall solution to water quality
and we continue to do our part simply because protecting the
oceans is the right thing to do. We will continue our initiatives
to be a part of the overall solution to clean water through
advanced practices, procedures, technology and partnerships
with responsible environmental groups.
