Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd v Rawlings – NSWCA (Bell P and Meagher and Leeming JJA) [2022] NSWCA 4 – 4 February 2022

Tort – Trespass to the person – False imprisonment – Cruise passenger detained onboard after allegation of sexual assault – Whether detention justified.

The applicant (the defendant in the action) was the operator of the Bahamian-flagged cruise ship Explorer of the Seas. The respondent (the plaintiff in the action) was a passenger on the ship during a 10-day voyage which departed Sydney on 10 November 2016 for various islands in the Pacific, and returned to Sydney on 20 November 2016. On 15 November an incident occurred which resulted in the plaintiff being suspected of having sexually assaulted an 18-year-old female passenger, referred to as “A”. The alleged assault occurred whilst the vessel was in international waters.