Cruise ships come in and out of the Port of Galveston multiple times a week, and the local Texas City FBI office says agents board a ship nearly weekly to investigate a crime that happened in international waters.
That’s why, since June of last year, there have been dedicated special agents called marine liaison agents who focus full-time on cruise crimes.
Galveston is about a 25-minute drive from Texas City.
“In the last year, we haven’t arrested somebody off a ship because if it’s a murder, for example, the investigation goes back to the jurisdiction of the victim and or the perpetrator,” FBI senior supervisory resident agent Don Gay told NTD. “Very rarely are the people on these ships from our area. It ends up being folks from Missouri, Colorado, and other states.”
Guidelines included under the U.S. Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction state that the FBI has jurisdiction if the crime on a cruise ship occurs within 12 miles of the coast, regardless of the nationality of the vessel, the victim, or the perpetrator, and if the incident is considered an act of terrorism against the United States.
“A cruise ship is a floating city, and the cruise terminal is no different than an airport,” Gay said. “Ships do have a morgue they can put bodies in while at sea.”
National FBI data shows 168 incidents in 2024 compared to 180 in 2023, with passengers committing 66 percent of all reported crimes, and that’s not including incidents involving minors.
The federal system doesn’t prosecute minors, preferring to refer juvenile cases to state authorities whenever possible.
Sexual assault, assault with serious bodily injury, and theft are the top three cruise crimes reported to the FBI.
FBI senior supervisory resident agent Don Gay. Courtesy of Christina Garza, public affairs officer in the FBI Houston Field Office
“Not all of them, but a lot of the incidents happen once people are on the ship and alcohol gets involved, so it comes down to personal responsibility and people drinking too much,” Gay said.
Texas City isn’t the only FBI office that has marine liaison agents.
Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, and Tampa also have agents dedicated to cruise ship crime.
“We saw what they were doing in these other places and with the growth of Galveston and the cruise industry, we needed to get ahead of the trend,” Gay added.
“And there’s a new cruise line coming in,” Gay added.
