Horrific injuries of female guest raped, beaten and almost thrown overboard by attendant on Holland America cruise

MS Nieuw Amsterdam
  • A civil lawsuit was filed on Friday in a Seattle district court on behalf of Jane Doe, seeking $50m compensation and $365m in punitive damages
  • Room service attendant Ketut Pujayasa used his company-issued master key to enter the cabin of Jane Doe
  • He beat her about the head with a laptop and repeatedly strangled her unconscious before raping her
  • The victim’s screams were reported by fellow passengers but staff took 45 minutes to respond – and then could not access her room
  • She was airlifted to hospital following attack on February 14, 2014. The victim was left with a traumatic brain injury and PTSD
  • Pujayasa confessed and was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison  

A female guest who was raped, brutally beaten and strangled unconscious on a Holland America ship by a crew member is suing the cruise company.

A civil lawsuit was filed on Friday in a Seattle district court on behalf of Jane Doe who was almost thrown overboard by her rapist during the fight for her life on Valentine’s Day last year on MS Nieuw Amsterdam.

Room service attendant Ketut Pujayasa used his company-issued, master key to enter the cabin of Jane Doe, then 31, where he was able to lurk on her balcony for several hours until she returned.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT

The female passenger on a Holland America cruise ship suffered horrific injuries after she was raped, beaten and strangled in a brutal attack by a cabin crew member last February 14

The woman survived after fighting for her life against Ketut Pujayasa who tried to throw her overboard last year. The victim filed a civil lawsuit against Holland American last week

Ketut Pujayasa pleaded guilty in a Miami courtroom last September to rape and attempted murder. He was convicted and is serving 30 years

Holland America was ‘grossly negligent’, Jane Doe’s attorney John H. (Jack) Hickey told Daily Mail Online on Wednesday, in allowing Pujayasa access to a master key which was ‘applicable to all cabins’.

Mr Hickey, a maritime law specialist with more than 30 years experience, added: ‘To top it off, the cruise line’s system is that when the other passengers dial 911 they get the front desk, not security, and the front desk responds to the scene some 45 minutes to an hour later and does not even have access to the cabin?

Ketut Pujayasa pleaded guilty in a Miami courtroom last September to rape and attempted murder. He was convicted and is serving 30 years

Ketut Pujayasa pleaded guilty in a Miami courtroom last September to rape and attempted murder. He was convicted and is serving 30 years

‘If this is not the definition of outrageous, I don’t know what is.’

On February 14, 2014, the married woman, who was on the cruise with a group of friends but had a room to herself, returned around midnight and got ready for bed.

As she climbed into the bed and turned off the lights, in the shadows, she became aware of a figure lurking on the stateroom balcony.

Pujayasa, a 29-year-old employee originally from Indonesia, pounced on the woman.

During the sustained attack, which lasted close to an hour, Pujayasa punched her, smashed heavy blunt objects into her head including a laptop, and threw her across the room.

The rapist attempted to strangle his victim with his hands and then used a telephone cord and a curling iron cord.

The victim lost consciousness during the attack where she was raped and sexually assaulted.

Pujayasa pulled the woman to her room’s balcony and tried to throw her overboard into the dark waters.

She screamed repeatedly but no one responded.

The victim was able to hold on to the door handle to prevent being dragged on to the balcony.

Mr Hickey said it was only by having a certain degree of physical strength as part of her career as an aerialist, that his client was able to hold on.

The victim eventually escaped herself. She managed to wrestle free of Pujayasa, opened the door to her cabin on her own, and ran into the hall where other passengers had congregated.

Carnival Corp. orders 9 ships to be built from 2019 to 2022

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By Johanna Jainchill
Carnival Corp. said Thursday that it would add nine ships to its fleet between 2019 and 2022.

Carnival offered almost no details about the ship order. It did not specify which of its nine brands would get the new vessels or offer any information about their size, design or cost.

In a statement, Carnival said the new ships were expected to serve the North American, European and Chinese cruise markets, would be specifically designed and developed for their particular brands and would be the most efficient ships in Carnival history.

“We’re excited to take this next step in our fleet-enhancement plan with these two new agreements that are consistent with our long-term strategy of measured capacity growth over time,” Carnival Corp. President and CEO Arnold Donald said in a statement.

The order is in line with Donald’s previous statements indicating that the company would restrict its growth to two to three ships per year across its fleet.

Carnival said it had signed memorandums of agreement with Italy’s Fincantieri shipyard to build five of the vessels and with Germany’s Meyer Werft to build four.

Additional information about the ships, such as their design and which brands they will be built for, will be revealed at a later date, Carnival said.

In announcing the new builds, the company indicated that Donald would be offering additional details about the new vessels during Carnival Corp.’s earnings call on Friday.

Carnival Corp. is the parent company of Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, Aida Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (U.K.).

Late last year it ordered one ship each from Fincantieri for Carnival Cruise Line and Holland America Line for delivery in 2018.

The company has added more than 30 ships to its combined fleets since 2007, and it has another nine scheduled to be delivered between 2015 and 2018, which Donald pointed out in December was about one vessel for each of its brands over the next four years.

This year, Carnival is adding two ships to its global fleet and removing four. The new vessels are P&O’s Britannia, which launched earlier this month, and the Aida Prima, set to debut later this year.

Koningsdam 2016 delivery delayed

Holland America Line is moving back the delivery date of the Koningsdam to “more fully leverage the new features, innovations and state-of-the-art technology to further enhance the guest experience.”

Originally scheduled to be delivered by shipyard Fincantieri on Feb. 16, 2016, the ship will now be handed over on March 31. HAL said the delay was a joint decision with Fincantieri.

The 99,500-gross-ton Koningsdam will be HAL’s largest ship and includes a new hull design and an array of new venues and innovations.

With the postponement, HAL is also moving back the date of the inaugural cruise. The seven-day roundtrip voyage from Civitavecchia, Italy, will now depart on April 8, 2016.  The ship’s official naming celebration remains as scheduled on May 21, 2016, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.