Cruise ship crew member arrested for knife attack on elderly passengers

Federal prosecutors have charged a South African sailor with assault for allegedly running amok and stabbing three people with a pair of scissors.

According to the criminal complaint, the crew member – Ntando Sogoni, 35 – joined in Norwegian encore on Sunday at the Port of Seattle. He had just been hired and it was his first trip. That same evening, his crew members saw him attempting to launch a lifeboat. They called security guards, who took Sogoni to the ship’s medical center for examination. At that point, he “became irrational and attempted to leave,” security officials told the FBI.

According to charging documents, around 1:50 a.m. Monday morning, Sogoni attacked a security guard and a nurse and fled to another exam room, where he encountered a 75-year-old female patient. He allegedly took a pair of medical scissors and stabbed her multiple times in the arm, hand and face. Security forces rushed to stop him and he stabbed two guards before he could be subdued. None of these injuries were life-threatening.

Sogoni was taken to the holding cell and held there Norwegian encore reached Juneau. Upon his arrival, he was arrested by federal authorities.

The attack occurred in international waters off the coast of British Columbia on board a foreign-flagged vessel. However, because the voyage originated in the United States, U.S. law covers criminal activity aboard the ship (citing the federal government’s “special maritime and territorial jurisdiction” over travel to and from American ports).

Sogoni was charged under this special law with assault with a dangerous weapon. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.

“We condemn violent behavior of this nature and are committed to the safety of all crew members and guests on our ships. We commend the safety team on board for their courageous actions,” an NCL spokesperson told The Independent.

The court ordered Sogoni’s detention pending trial, ruling that if he were released there would be no way to “ensure the safety of another person.”

“The defendant is a South African citizen with no ties to the United States. He is said to have committed an unusually violent and unprovoked attack. Imprisoned without prejudice,” the judge ruled in a brief statement.