Why so many people disappear on cruise ships
When we hear about people going missing at sea, our minds flood with hundreds of possible explanations. Did they fall? Did they jump? Were they pushed? And while it might seem like a rare occurrence, it’s believed around 200 people have vanished from cruise ships since the year 2000 alone.
The shocking statistic was released by industry expert and author of Cruise Ship Blues: The Underside of the Cruise Ship Industry, Dr Ross Klein, after the parents of a British nanny who disappeared at sea ramp up the search for their daughter.
Rebecca Coriam, 24, vanished six years ago while working as a nanny on a Disney cruise. Her parents, Mike and Ann, believe their daughter’s death was not an accident, claiming she was murdered, and that Disney bosses covered up the tragic incident to protect the company’s reputation.
According to Dr Klein, however, many of the 200 missing from cruise ships appear to be passengers who drank too much on the last night of their cruise, falling overboard and drowning. But alcohol has been ruled out as a factor in Rebecca’s disappearance. Instead, it is claimed she was the victim of an attack.
The “shambles” investigation into the incident, carried out by a single Bahamian police officer, has only added to the uncertainty into what really happened to Rebecca. Even her local MP, Chris Matheson, who has done extensive research into the matter, described the investigation as “very seriously flawed”.
“There has been a whole wealth of contradictory evidence,” he told The Sun last year. “I think a crime has been committed here and I want justice for my constituents.”