Jun. 5, 2002 - --A bride, her mother and a girlfriend each filed suit Tuesday against Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., alleging that the chief officer -- and in one case, also the ship's doctor -- sexually assaulted them during a four-night Caribbean cruise onboard the Majesty of the Seas. 

The three suits, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, refer to incidents that allegedly occurred during a 15-minute period in the ship's nightclub Oct. 10-11 -- the night before the bride got married in a ceremony on the ship, said Miami maritime attorney Jim Walker, who represents the plaintiffs. 

The suits allege that Royal Caribbean was negligent in caring for the safety of its passengers -- by failing to adequately screen, train and supervise employees and prevent them from becoming intoxicated. 

In addition to the allegations against Royal Caribbean, all three suits allege Chief Officer Helge Strand committed assault and battery, and the friend's suit additionally accuses Dr. Philippus Van Niekerk of assault and battery. 

Walker alleged in a statement that Strand groped, grabbed and pressed himself against two of the women and forcibly kissed the bride's mother. Niekirk allegedly used obscenities and made inappropriate comments to the bride's friend, the lawyer said. 

The suits each seek damages in excess of $15,000, citing pain and suffering. 

Royal Caribbean spokesman Michael Sheehan said the company has not yet been served with the suit and is not aware of the exact allegations. 

"However, our standard operating procedure is to automatically report allegations of this sort to the FBI," Sheehan said. "This party did make a complaint last fall, we did report that to the FBI, and the FBI declined to investigate, apparently concluding that no crime was committed." 

Strand has resigned from the cruise line and Niekerk, an independent contractor, continues working on the ship, Sheehan said. Neither could be reached for comment. 

The events allegedly occurred on the dance floor when the 33-year-old bride from North Florida, her 64-year-old mother and 34-year-old girlfriend -- both from Pennsylvania -- were enjoying a bachelorette evening in the ship's "On Your Toes" nightclub, Walker said. A group of ship officers arrived in their white uniforms and were trying to get various women to wear their uniform jackets and pin their bars on the women's blouses, Walker said. 

Afterward, the bride reported the events to Royal Caribbean and said she intended to file a report with the FBI. Walker said the cruise line told her she could do so when the ship returned to Miami. However, the suit alleges the bride was not permitted to meet with the FBI and was told that she could only meet with the cruise line's risk management department and with representatives of the Royal Norwegian Consulate. 

The consulate's investigation "did not find sufficient evidence of sexual harassment," Walker said. 

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(c) 2002, The Miami Herald. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. RCL,