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Jennifer Hagel Smith at Hearing

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By Seamus McGraw

A Maritime Crime Wave?

Jennifer Hagel Smith and other members of the dead man's family say they believe that he was the victim of foul play. But if authorities have found evidence to support that conclusion, so far they have not disclosed it.

Although the probe remains active, the case has largely disappeared from the public's radar. After a flurry of publicity in the first few days, particularly on the television crime shows, the disappearance of George Allen Smith has received little media attention.

That, however, may be about to change.

Rep. Christopher Shays

Earlier this week, Rep. Christopher Shays, a Republican from Smith's home state of Connecticut, along Indiana Republican Mark Souder opened hearings into cruise ship safety. Under the aegis of the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations which Shays chairs, the committee is raising questions about cruise line safety.

The Smith case is not the only incident to have occurred in recent years aboard leisure lines, Shays said in a prepared statement delivered just prior to the Dec. 13 hearing. "Just two days ago, Coast Guard officials began conducting search operations in the waters north of the Bahamas because a cruise ship passenger was reported missingIn early November, modern day brigands fired mortars at a cruise ship off the cost of Somalia," Shays said. "These are two recent additions to a growing manifest of unexplained disappearances, unsolved crimes and brazen acts of lawlessness on the high seas."

"According to industry experts, a wide range of criminal activities, including drug smuggling, sexual assaults, piracy and terrorism, threaten the security of maritime travel and trade," Shays continued. "What's more, the Congressman Shays said, "there is mounting evidence that the cruise line industry may be intentionally withholding accurate information about crimes committed aboard their ships."

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