The US Attorney’s Office says the man is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon within maritime and territorial jurisdiction. Online court records do not show an attorney for the 35-year-old man.
According to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Matthew Judy, the man was recently hired by a cruise line and joined the ship, the Norwegian Encore, in Seattle on Sunday.
The ship departed today for a week-long voyage with scheduled stops in Alaskan ports, including the capital city of Juneau and British Columbia.
The alleged incident occurred west of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, while the vessel was en route to Alaska. According to the affidavit, during the “late evening” on Sunday, ship personnel saw the man trying to deploy a lifeboat and he was taken by security to a medical center for examination.
While there, he “became unreasonable and attempted to leave” and “physically assaulted” a guard and a nurse, the affidavit said.
He ran into another room, where he grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed a woman who was being examined, as well as two guards who tried to intervene, before being subdued and held in “ship jail,” the affidavit said.
None of the injuries were life-threatening.
The ship arrived in Juneau on Tuesday when he was arrested by the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
