One Man
How One Man Cut Cruise Short
A Californian Man could see up to 20 years of jail time after he stopped a moving cruise ship. Rich Ehlert, 44, entered a restricted area and operated the ship’s anchor before being apprehended by FBI agents reviewing the security camera logs. Though no motive has been established, FBI agents found him putting on work gloves to operate the mechanism though he claims he was drunk at the time. The mechanism would apparently have been familiar to Ehlert, who owns his own 50ft boat.
Ehlert faces charges of attempting to ‘damage, destroy, disable or wreck’ the ship and of ‘causing damage to a ship likely to endanger safe navigation of that ship’. One FBI agent associated with the case revealed that per charge, Ehlert may have to pay as much as $250,000. Jail time is similarly hefty: he may see as much as 20 years in prison.
The ship, Holland America’s Ryndham was undamaged by the event. His actions could have easily damaged a propeller or rudder on the ship, leaving the ship floating without direction in the sea. In an extreme case, the hull of the ship could be punctured, with flooding of the lower decks and even wholesale sinking resulting. The versatility of cruises and cruise-liners makes Titanic-style sinking unlikely. But though the threat of sinking is unlikely on river cruises, the 1,260 passengers of this ocean cruise were alerted by the ship’s emergency alarm for a head-count. Sinking was clearly not ruled out after this one man’s reckless actions.
Cruise disasters are, thankfully, an outside possibility. Even if a ship goes down, cruise traffic and other shipping would easily be on the scene incredibly quickly. Regent Seven Seas cruises and Cunard cruises are just two of the many operators on or near the Florida to Mexico route of the Holland America cruise. Still, Holland America must now face inevitable security concerns: how was this individual allowed into a restricted, vital area without being challenged?. The matter is even more perplexing considering that Ehlert was dressed in formal dinner wear. Shaken, not stirred.
Vybz Kartel ft Gaza Slim – One Man {FEB 2010} {AdidjahiemNotnice Prod}
