The crew member who tried to kill and sexually abused a passenger was sentenced to more than 30 years in federal prison. The attack happened  almost one year ago onboard Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam by the room service attendant Ketut Pujayasa, for the Valentine's Day cruise from Port Everglades.

Judge Jose E. Martinez imposed a sentence that is twice as long as the punishment recommended by sentencing guidelines, citing crew members extreme conduct, the brutality of the attack and the devastating and lasting injuries the victim suffered.

Holland America crew member was arrested by FBI after he confessed that he tried to rape a 31 year old woman onboard Nieuw Amsterdam and then tried to throw her overboard. The incident took place during a nudist cruise organized by Bare Necessities.

Ketut had arrived at the woman’s stateroom aboard the MS Nieuw Amsterdam the morning of Valentine’s Day with breakfast but was unable to wake up the passenger. He continued to knock when she didn’t answer the door, reportedly prompting the passenger to shout ”Wait a minute, son of a bitch,” from her stateroom. 

“[Ketut] stated that the passenger’s comment of ‘son of a bitch’ was offensive to himself and his parents,”

After the incident, he broke in woman’s cabin and hide on the balcony waiting for her to come. He hit the woman with a laptop and tried to strangle her with a telephone wire but the woman fought back. Pujayasa later told the FBI that he had the intention to throw his victim overboard. Fortunately, the 31-year-old woman, who participated in the eight-day cruise from Florida to the Bahamas on M/S Nieuw Amsterdam, was rescued after a fellow passenger was alarmed by the shouting and the door of her own cabin began to pound.  The cruise ship halted in Honduras and hence the lady was flown by helicopter to Miami.