Corporation's 10 brands can screen all passenger documents against Interpol I-Checkit system
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Carnival Corporation is to be the first maritime company to partner with Interpol to implement advanced security screening processes across its 10 brands and fleet of 101 ships that visit more than 700 ports worldwide.
The corporation has received approval to screen passengers’ travel documents against Interpol’s I-Checkit global security system. Approval was granted following a three-month pilot on four ships in one of Carnival Corporation’s brand, Princess Cruises. During the trial, 34,000 travel documents were successfully checked against Interpol’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database, which contains more than 69 million records from 175 countries.
Carnival Corporation will now work with Interpol to initiate a phased roll out of the I-Checkit system across its brands. These include Carnival Cruise Line, Fathom, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK).
“One of our top priorities at Carnival Corporation is the safety and security of our guests, our crew and our ships,” said Bill Burke, chief maritime officer for Carnival Corporation. “As the world’s largest cruise company carrying hundreds of thousands of daily passengers, having a highly effective and efficient security screening process is a crucial part of how we serve our guests every day. Partnering with Interpol enables us to seamlessly enhance security across our global fleet, while also maintaining our commitment to providing our guests with a great vacation experience.”
Once implemented, the company’s brands will be able to automatically query Interpol’s SLTD database before and during the boarding process to see if any passenger travel documents have been reported lost or stolen. To ensure privacy and security, no personal data is accessed or transmitted in this process.
“With its real-time secure global alert system, criminal intelligence potential and compliance framework, I-Checkit provides an invaluable preventative and investigative capability for global policing,” said Michael O’Connell, director of Interpol’s operational support and analysis directorate and head of the I-Checkit programme. “I-Checkit’s initiative with Carnival Corporation offers an additional layer of safety in the travel sector by creating an international standard for security screening.”