NEW YORK (Bloomberg) ? Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. this week named a former US Federal Bureau of Investigation official to a new position supervising security at the world?s second-largest cruise operator.

Gary Bald will become vice president of global security on June 12, responsible for managing and improving safety on Royal Caribbean?s 29 ships. Bald resigned last week as executive assistant director at the FBI?s National Security Branch, the agency?s third most senior position, the Miami-based company said today in a statement.

?He?s going to get involved with everything related to prevention and security,? said Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Lynn Martenstein. ?We don?t know where the next threat will come from. Gary will help us evaluate threats and prepare us as a company.?

Bald?s appointment comes six months after members of Congress said the US should require public reporting of crimes on cruise ships so passengers know of potential dangers. A Congressional hearing was convened after incidents including passenger disappearances and a November attack on a Carnival Corp. vessel by pirates off Somalia.

George Smith IV, a Connecticut man on his honeymoon, vanished in July 2005 from Royal Caribbean?s ship in the Mediterranean Sea.

His disappearance is being investigated by the FBI and the reason is still unknown, Royal Caribbean said in a January statement posted on its website.