Case against cruise ship dropped by Bermuda's DPP

The Department of Maritime Administration today provided an update on the investigation into an incident involving Princess Cruises’ Bermuda registered vessel “Star Princess” with the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) saying there is insufficient evidence to justify commencing criminal proceedings in the case and the matter is now closed.

The case involved an allegation that the Star Princess ignored a distress signal from a vessel, the ’50 Cent’ off the coast of Panama in March 2012 having been alerted to the vessel by passengers on board the ship - a group of bird watchers with photography equipment with telescopic lenses.

The Bermuda Police Service carried out a thorough investigation which involved visiting the ship, interviewing witnesses who were on board the ship and reviewing the depositions of the survivor of the ’50 Cent’ which was recovered off the coast of the Galapagos Islands.

In deciding not to bring a prosecution, the DPP noted that the passengers who were material witness to the case made a statement that the boat they had seen was not the same boat as the one recovered off the Galapagos Islands, and the survivor had stated that he had seen a large white ship in the morning of the day in question, whereas the passengers onboard the Star Princess had stated that they had seen a fishing boat in the afternoon.