What safety rules does federal law impose on cruise ships?

Last updated October 4, 2026.

The main federal law is the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010, now at 46 U.S.C. 3507 and 3508. It covers ships that can carry 250 or more passengers overnight on voyages that embark or disembark passengers in the United States. It requires rails at least 42 inches above the cabin deck, peepholes on cabin doors, video surveillance, sexual assault care on board, crime logs and FBI reporting, and crew trained in crime prevention and evidence preservation.

Families and passengers often want to know whether the ship broke a safety rule. This page sets out what the law requires and how it fits into a cruise passenger injury claim.

How does this law come into a passenger's claim, step by step?

1. Check that the ship is covered. The questions are passenger capacity, overnight accommodations and whether the voyage embarked or disembarked passengers in the United States (3507(k)).
2. Match what happened to a specific rule. A low rail, a door without a peephole, missing video, a missing cabin-entry record or a failure in sexual assault care each points to a different subsection.
3. Preserve the records the law requires the ship to keep. Video, the crime log and the cabin-entry record exist because of this law, and some of them are kept only for a short time.
4. Report a crime through the channels the law sets up. The ship's security guide lists the contacts, and serious incidents must be reported by the ship to the FBI.
5. Bring the claim as a maritime negligence case, on time. The safety rules are usually evidence inside that case, and your ticket's notice and lawsuit deadlines still apply.

Which ships does the law cover?

Under 46 U.S.C. 3507(k), sections 3507 and 3508 apply to a passenger vessel that (1) is authorized to carry 250 or more passengers, (2) has overnight accommodations for 250 or more passengers, and (3) is on a voyage that embarks or disembarks passengers in the United States. They do not apply to a vessel of the United States operated by the federal government or a vessel owned and operated by a state. The person responsible, called the "owner," is defined broadly as the owner, charterer, managing operator, master or other individual in charge of the vessel (3507(l)).

What design and equipment does it require?

The overboard rule is often misunderstood. The statute does not name a particular system. It requires the ship to integrate technology that can capture images of, or detect, a passenger who has gone overboard, to the extent such technology is available. Whether a ship met that duty is a question of fact in an overboard or drowning case.

What must the ship tell passengers?

Each passenger must have access to a security guide, written in commonly understood English, that describes the medical and security staff on board with 24-hour contact instructions and explains the law enforcement processes for reporting serious crimes, whether they happen in U.S. waters, on the high seas or in a country on the itinerary. A copy goes to the FBI for comment, and the guide must be posted on the owner's website. Each stateroom must also have information on the locations of the U.S. embassy and consulates in every country the ship will visit (3507(c)). The guide must also say that the owner is required by law to keep video surveillance footage for at least 20 days (3507(b)(4)), which is a useful reminder of how short that window is.

Who can enter your cabin, and is it recorded?

The owner must set and carry out procedures and restrictions on which crew members may enter passenger staterooms and when (3507(f)). An amendment signed on December 18, 2025 (Public Law 119-60, section 7343) added a third required element: a system that electronically records the date, time and identity of each crew member accessing each passenger stateroom. The procedures must be fully and properly implemented, reviewed every year and updated as needed. In a case about something that happened in a cabin, those records may be important evidence; see how to get the cruise line's video and other evidence.

What care must be available after a sexual assault?

Section 3507(d) requires the ship to carry adequate, in-date medications to prevent sexually transmitted diseases after a sexual assault, and since the 2025 amendment the supply must take into account the length of the voyage and the number of passengers and crew the ship can carry. The ship must also carry equipment for a sexual assault examination, and have medical staff available at all times who hold a current physician's or registered nurse's license, meet experience or board certification requirements and are trained in forensic sexual assault examination.

The patient must get free and immediate access to contact information for local law enforcement, the FBI, the U.S. Coast Guard, the nearest U.S. consulate or embassy and a victim advocacy hotline, plus a private telephone line and an internet-connected computer. Medical information from the examination may not be released to the cruise line without the patient's written approval, apart from narrow exceptions (3507(e)). Our page on medical care after a sexual assault on a cruise explains these duties in more detail.

How are crimes logged and reported?

The ship must keep a log book of crime complaints, including every complaint of theft of property worth more than $1,000, and make it available to the FBI, the Coast Guard and law enforcement officers investigating a case (3507(g)(1)). For listed serious incidents, the owner must call the nearest FBI field office or legal attaché as soon as possible and file a written report through a website kept by the Secretary of Transportation (3507(g)(3)). The listed incidents are homicide, suspicious death, a missing U.S. national, kidnapping, assault with serious bodily injury, listed sexual offenses, firing or tampering with the vessel, and theft of money or property worth more than $10,000. Read who investigates a crime on a cruise ship for when U.S. law reaches a foreign-flagged ship.

The Secretary of Transportation must publish a statistical compilation of those incidents at least every quarter, sortable by cruise line and naming each line (3507(g)(4)). See where to find official cruise ship crime statistics for what the latest quarter shows. Our page on assault and onboard crime explains how these reports relate to a civil claim.

Does the crew have to be trained?

Yes. Under 46 U.S.C. 3508(c), a covered ship may not enter a U.S. port on a voyage, or voyage segment, with a U.S. citizen aboard as a passenger unless at least one crew member is certified as having completed training in the prevention, detection, evidence preservation and reporting of criminal activities on passenger vessels. The training standards are kept by the Secretary in consultation with the FBI and the Maritime Administration (3508(a)).

What happens when a ship breaks these rules?

These are government penalties. The statute does not itself set out a damages claim for passengers. An injured passenger's case is usually a maritime negligence claim against the cruise line, and whether the ship followed these rules may be relevant evidence in it. Each case turns on its own facts.

What changes the answer?

Whether the ship and voyage are covered

The law reaches passenger vessels authorized to carry, and with overnight accommodations for, 250 or more passengers, on voyages that embark or disembark passengers in the United States. The definition of a passenger vessel it relies on (46 U.S.C. 2101(33)) has no flag test, so coverage does not turn on the flag the ship flies. A cruise that never touches a U.S. port falls outside it; see claims by passengers whose cruise never touched a U.S. port.

When the ship was built

The security latch and time-sensitive key rule applies to ships whose keel was laid after July 27, 2010. An older ship is not in breach of that rule simply because it lacks those features, although its other duties still apply.

How the rule is worded

Some duties are fixed, like the 42-inch rail height and the 20-day video minimum. Others are qualified, like the overboard technology duty "to the extent that such technology is available." A qualified duty leaves more room for argument about what the ship had to do.

What kind of incident it was

Sexual assault triggers the strongest duties: medical care and examination, confidentiality, video copies on request, and a special rule on emotional distress damages in the ticket statute. For those ticket rules, see can a cruise ticket limit what the cruise line pays. A fall or a medical emergency usually turns on ordinary negligence, with this law supplying evidence such as video.

Whether a death or disappearance is involved

A missing U.S. national and a suspicious death are listed incidents the ship must report to the FBI. Families facing that situation can read what happens first when a family member dies on a cruise.

What does this look like in a real situation?

For example, imagine a passenger on a cruise from a U.S. port who returns to her stateroom and finds that someone has been inside while she was at dinner. Her jewelry is gone. Nothing was forced, and the cabin door has no sign of damage.

Several parts of this law come into play at once. The ship must have procedures limiting which crew may enter staterooms and when, and since the December 2025 amendment, a system that electronically records the date, time and identity of each crew member who enters each stateroom. The ship must log her complaint of theft, and if the property was worth more than $1,000, that complaint belongs in the log book law enforcement can see. If the value was more than $10,000, it is a listed incident the owner must report to the FBI. She reports the theft to ship security, asks in writing that the cabin-entry record and the corridor video be preserved, and keeps a copy of her request and the security report.

This example is hypothetical. It is not a past case or a result, and every claim turns on its own facts.

What mistakes do passengers and families make?

• Assuming the law gives a separate damages claim. The penalties go to the government. A passenger's own case is usually a negligence claim, with this law as evidence.
• Waiting to ask for records. Ordinary video only has to be kept for 20 days.
• Not reading the security guide. It lists the medical and security contacts and how to report a crime, wherever the ship is.
• Treating every safety gap as a violation. Some rules apply only to newer ships, and some duties are qualified. A lawyer can sort which rule fits.
• Forgetting the ticket deadlines. A clear rule violation does not extend the time to give written notice of your claim or to file suit.

What should you do this week?

1. Write down what you saw: the rail, the door, the cabin, the cameras, the response.
2. Photograph the area if you safely can, including any signs about video surveillance.
3. Ask in writing for the ship's video, the cabin-entry record and other records to be preserved, early.
4. For a crime, report it to ship security and ask that it be reported to the FBI. The security guide on board lists the contacts.
5. Keep your ticket contract, which sets the deadlines for notice and for filing suit, and note both dates.
6. Keep the names of crew members and other passengers who saw what happened.

Frequently asked questions

Does this law apply to foreign-flagged cruise ships?

Yes, if the ship meets the size test and is on a voyage that embarks or disembarks passengers in the United States. The statute's coverage turns on the ship's capacity and the voyage, not on its flag.

Can I sue under this law directly?

The statute sets government penalties and does not itself spell out a damages claim for passengers. A passenger's claim is usually for negligence under maritime law, and evidence that the ship broke one of these rules may be relevant in that case.

Does the ship have to have man-overboard detection?

The ship must integrate technology that can capture images of passengers or detect passengers who have fallen overboard, to the extent that such technology is available. No amendment to that wording has been enacted. Whether a particular ship met it is a question of fact.

Who sees the crime log?

The ship must make the log book available on request to the FBI, the Coast Guard and law enforcement officers investigating a case. Separately, the Department of Transportation publishes quarterly statistics of the incidents reported to the FBI.

Is crew entry to my cabin recorded?

An amendment signed on December 18, 2025 requires a system that electronically records the date, time and identity of each crew member who accesses each passenger stateroom. The amendment states no separate compliance date, so ask for the record in writing and see what the cruise line has.

Who has to report a crime to the FBI?

For listed serious incidents, the ship's owner must contact the nearest FBI field office or legal attaché as soon as possible and file a written report. You can also report the crime yourself.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Deadlines and rights depend on your ticket and the facts of your case. Contact a lawyer about your specific situation.