No Security on Hijacked Ship, Panel Told : 2 Passengers Describe 52-Hour Ordeal to House Subcommittee

Two passengers from the hijacked cruise ship Achille Lauro said today they saw no security precautions from the moment they reached Italy, and the four hijackers “folded up their guns,” put them in their suitcases and walked off the boat at the end of the odyssey.

“Definitely if their bags were examined, someone” would have suspected a problem before the hijacking, Viola Meskin, a passenger from Union, N.J., told a House subcommittee.

At a hearing conducted under restrictions requested by Justice Department prosecutors, Meskin and her husband, Seymour, described the 52 hours they spent aboard the hijacked ship while four terrorists patroled with hand grenades and submachine guns at the ready.

Seymour Meskin described an almost total lack of security, with baggage going onto the ship unchecked and outsiders being permitted to mingle with ship passengers before the cruise liner left Genoa and later at several ports of call.

The hearing, conducted by a House Merchant Marines and Fisheries subcommittee, was called to probe the possible need for legislation beefing up security on maritime vessels.

Ignorant of Klinghoffer’s Fate

Meskin told the subcommittee that for several hours after the murder of American Leon Klinghoffer, the other passengers were kept ignorant of his fate. At one point, crew members told the other Americans aboard the ship that Klinghoffer, who was confined to a wheelchair, had felt faint and had been taken on deck.

Later, they were told that he had “palpitations,” and that he had been taken to the ship hospital but he was alive and well, Meskin said.

At that point in the testimony, the Meskins were directed away from the subject by lawmakers responding to a request from the Justice Department, which is presenting evidence in the hijacking to a grand jury in Washington.

Viola Meskin praised the Italian captain of the ship, saying he “seemed to be a very wonderful person.”

“He offered his own life in preference to any of his passengers, which they turned down,” she said.

But she later described “the sickest thing I ever saw in my life,” when the hijackers had the captain accompany them on a farewell tour of the ship. She quoted the hijackers as telling the passengers: “We did not mean to hurt you. We had an objective and a cause.”

Media Attention

Today’s hearing had the trappings of a media event. Before it began, Rep. Mario Biaggi (D-N.Y.), the subcommittee chairman, ushered the Meskins into a private room, where first photographers and then television crews were escorted in to record the scene.

Moments after the hearing started though, with Biaggi reading a statement, Rep. Matthew J. Rinaldo (R-N.J.) strode in, walked over to the witness table, embraced Seymour Meskin and kissed Viola Meskin. Biaggi stopped reading and invited Rinaldo to join other committee members in seats reserved for House members.