Background In recent years, there has been a marked increase in rape on ferries in the Baltic Sea. Alcohol is part of the picture in 90 percent of the crimes. The volume and structure of crime are affected by the availability of alcohol and the presence of young people under the age of 25. The nature of the rape crime provides good opportunities for prevention. Rape can be used as an indicator of other violent crimes. When the number of rapes increases, so do other crimes of violence. If crime prevention work focuses on and succeeds in reducing the number of rapes, other crimes of violence will also decrease. The projects partners from the police in Estonia, Sweden, Finland and the Åland Islands and the STAD-organisation, the Swedish Transport Agency and Valveria in Finland have prepared this application together with the large shipping companies in the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea unit of SIDA financed the preparatory project. The objectives - Development of crime prevention methods against violence related to entertainment at sea. - Develop and communicate a common vision of the work of supervising the serving of alcohol on the ships in the Baltic Sea. - Development of cross-border operational police work and improvement of the opportunities for successful investigation when a violent crime has been committed on a ferry. Results The result of the two-year project will be a joint cross-border development of methods for crime prevention work relating to violent crime. It will also lead to development of cross-border operational police co-operation in the region and a cross-border structure for joint investigation work involving police and shipping companies.The result of the project will lead to fewer crimes of violence and more pleasant cruises for the entertainment-based passenger traffic in the Baltic Sea. All partners will take responsibility for implementation of the joint results in their own activity. Co-ordination The projects partners will meet in a number of working meetings, conferences, etc. The chairmanship and responsibility for organising these seminars will rotate among the partners. The project will be co-ordinated by a project management group. Three people based at the police authority in Stockholm will be employed to drive forward the work of the project management group. This group will support and assist the partners arranging and documenting the result of the seminars. The project harmonises with the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea region regarding prevention of young peoples health and alcohol abuse, access to and the attraction of the region and by improving safety and security in the region. The project will co-operate closely with the "Fasttrack Flagship Project" that the Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Well-Being, TG Alcohol and Drug Prevention Among Youth have been charged to develop. Achievements: The Safe Baltic Cruises project has developed crime prevention methods against violence related to entertainment at sea. The project partners sought to achieve a common policy and regulatory environment with clear rules for serving alcohol on board that apply to traffic on the Baltic Sea. During the project, the partners developed and agreed common methods of crime investigation, regardless of where the investigation originates. Furthermore, the project has put forward a concept for crime prevention education that can be used and implemented in the ferry companies internal security training for staff.