Today Star Clippers announced that it will no longer make port calls in Antigua. The decision comes in the wake of the murder of a Star Clipper’s passenger on the island. On January 19, Nina Elisabeth Nilssen of San Francisco was stabbed to death after wandering from a barbecue picnic near Pigeon Point Beach. Authorities have a description of the alleged assailant, sadly no arrest has been made.

“Star Clippers has called at Antigua for many years without incident, and with its long sailing and yacht history, the island has always been a popular destination with our guests,” said Mikael Krafft, ceo of Star Clippers. “We are taking this decision after much deliberation, and we will continue to monitor the security situation in Antigua and evaluate our options for next winter season regarding returning to the island.” In place of the Antigua stop the line will call on Nevis for the five remaining Royal Clipper Windward Island sailings through April 10. On April 10th the Royal Clipper will transition to Spain for its Mediterranean season.

A Star Clippers passenger has been attacked and killed in Antigua. Antiguan police reported the body of a 30-year-old American woman was found on a trail near Pigeon Point beach on January 19. The passenger, who has been named as Nina Elisabeth Nilssen, was not on a cruise line shore excursion.

Mikael Krafft, Star Clippers chief executive, has expressed heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the members of the victim’s family. The cruise line is assisting the woman’s family with accommodation, flights home and arrangements to transport the body.

The authorities are yet to make an arrest but have a description of the alleged assailant. A statement from the Antigua and Barbuda ministry of tourism said: “The government recognises that the safety and security of our citizens and visitors is paramount. No effort will be spared in bringing the perpetrator or perpetrators to justice.”

Antigua has had a growing problem with tourism crime, including murder and rapes in the last few years. Last year, Australian yacht captain Andrew Gollan was shot and killed. In July 2008, British honeymooners Catherine and Ben Mullany were murdered in their hotel room. Carnival Cruise Lines pulled out of Antigua earlier this month after deciding the port stop was unsafe for its passengers.

Footnote:
Journalist Cynthia Boal Janssens was onboard the Royal Clipper when Nilssen went missing. She blogged of the incident and was critical of the Royal Clipper crew on her All Things Cruise blog, but later took the reference to Nilssen’s murder and criticism of the crew out. Maritime lawyer Jim Walker, who writes the Cruise Law News blog, had seen Janssens’ original blog post and has included the removed paragraph in a stinging post about its removal.

Update 1/28/10:
I was contacted by Cynthia Boal Janssens stating that she did not take the reference to the incident out of her blog, her publisher did. Janssens’ post is back up with even more insight and criticism of the cruise line. http://allthingscruise.com/we-spend-tranquil-days-in-antigua-and-st-kitts-but-tragedy-upsets-everyone/