Dying onboard

[SimplyMarvie]

3 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Well, again, it will depend on the country where the remains are to be landed.  In many countries, including many states in the US, any licensed physician can issue a death certificate, so the doctor onboard, whose credentials are approved by the flag state, can issue a death certificate for the flag country.  Whether the port state accepts that death certificate is what would determine whether the remains are landed, but the US consul could proceed with the Consular Report based on the ship's doctor's death certificate.

 

The vast majority of cruise ships are flagged in the Bahamas, where death certificates must be issued by the local registrar NOT any qualified doctor and can't be done just by a doctor so I don't know where you're getting this idea from, as is the case in Malta, Panama, Italy, Cyprus, Hong Kong and Singapore. Perhaps you're thinking of freighters who still travel under Liberian flag? Even in Libera, though, official death certificates are only available from the Government Offices in Monrovia and although they can be signed by local doctors, they need to be issued and approved by the government in Liberia before they're considered official documents.

 

Regardless, the US Embassy requires official death certificates to be provided prior to issuing a CRODA and could not proceed based on the ship's doctor's certificate, for anti-fraud reasons if nothing else -- this is a formal declaration of death that is passed on to Social Security, etc.  See below for some nice example text from the US Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica -- although the language is pretty much standardized world-wide: 

 

https://jm.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/death-of-a-u-s-citizen/

 

 

[Vexorg]

When I took the Ultimate Ship tour on Ruby Princess back in 2011, when we toured the medical facility the doctor accompanying us didn't show us the ship's morgue but did point out where it was (basically a large closet in the medical center with space to store 2 bodies).  If I recall correctly,  he said that they generally deal with around somewhere around 3-4 deaths on board per year.  There are also cases of passengers going overboard, which in most cases means that the remains will never be recovered.

 

I also recall seeing stories about a murder (domestic violence) taking place aboard the Emerald Princess earlier this year, although I would imagine that violent deaths would be exceptionally rare in most cases.

Edited November 8, 2019 by Vexorg