Witness list for cruise Senate hearing released

A plaintiff’s attorney, a crime victim and a passenger on last year’s stranded Carnival Triumph cruise are among the witnesses that will testify at a July 23 hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

The hearing is in support of the Cruise Passenger Protection Act sponsored by the committee chairman, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.).

Miami lawyer Philip Gerson of Gerson Schwartz PA, who has experience with maritime accidents and injuries, will provide his perspective as will Kimberly Ware, a Houston woman who was aboard Carnival Triumph when it lost power after an engine fire.

Also testifying will be Laurie Dishman, a California woman who alleged she was raped on a Royal Caribbean International ship in 2006. After an FBI investigation, no arrests were made and no one was charged with a crime, according to a Royal Caribbean statement at the time.

Amanda Butler will be the fourth witness at the hearing, which begins at 2:45 p.m. and will be webcast live on the committee’s website.