By Paul Tait
Sydney - It began as the holiday of a lifetime but descended into a lurid spiral of alcohol, drugs and sexual predators for a suburban mother of three whose humiliating death at sea could help change the global cruise industry.
A coroner's inquest into the 2002 death of Dianne Brimble on board the P&O liner Pacific Sky has shocked Australia with its graphic descriptions of her treatment by a group of men she met on board.
The inquest has heard that Brimble, 42, died of an overdose of gamma hydroxybutyrate, a "date rape" drug also known as fantasy, mixed with a high blood alcohol level.
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'A piece of metal' No charges have been laid and the inquest is being held to determine the circumstances in which she died.
Her family has joined an international group set up by victims of other apparent crimes at sea in demanding cruise ships be made more accountable and better protect passengers.
International Cruise Victims (ICV) says at least 18 people are believed to have gone missing from cruise ships since 2004.
"When you put 3 000 people on a piece of metal floating around in the ocean, you would expect things are going to happen," Diane Brimble's former husband told Reuters.
"Why should they be a law unto themselves?" said Mark Brimble, who represents ICV in Australia after being contacted by the group's American founders.
'Cruise liners are driven by profit' The coronial inquiry has attracted blanket media coverage, making it one of the highest-profile inquests since the infamous backpacker murders in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
It has painted an unflattering picture of predatory, drunken behaviour, where nudity and public sex were said to be common, and of a flawed and delayed investigation.
Local media have shown photographs of a beaming Brimble boarding the ship in September 2002 with her then 12-year-old daughter, her sister and friends at the start of a South Pacific cruise for which she had saved for two years.
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