Maersk’s American unit has been ordered to pay over $700,000 to a former employee who was fired after complaining about vessel safety to the US Coast Guard.
In December 2020, a chief mate aboard the 4,154 teu Safmarine Mafadi, now Maersk Tennessee, reported a list of concerns about the ship’s condition.
Following the vessel’s inspection, Virginia-based Maersk Line suspended the seafarer and then terminated his employment in March 2021, for making the complaint without notifying the company first.
A federal whistleblower investigation by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) determined Maersk’s termination of the seaman violated the federal Seaman’s Protection Act and ordered the Maersk Line to reinstate the seaman and pay $457,759 in back wages, interest, compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages.
According to US law, seaman aboard a US-registered vessel, or any vessel owned by a US citizen may report concerns directly to the coast guard and are not required to follow any company policy that requires employees to report first to the company.
“Federal law protects a seaman’s right to report safety concerns to federal regulatory agencies, a fact every maritime industry employer and vessel owner must know,” said OSHA regional administrator Eric S. Harbin. “Failure to recognize these rights can instill a culture of intimidation that could lead to disastrous or deadly consequences. The order underscores our commitment to enforcing whistleblower rights that protect seamen.”
Maersk Line, which operates the largest US flag fleet in commercial service and employs around 700 US seafarers has also been ordered to revise its policy to not prohibit seamen from contacting the coast guard or other federal, state or local regulatory agencies before first notifying the company.
This posting is an immensely newsworthy event following a violation of the US federal Seaman’s Protection Act by a major Shipping player that can generate a universal impact on the Maritime Industry’s overall Safety and the Seaworkers’ Occupational health, the Pillars of Sustainability of the sector.
The professional Seafarers onboard a Ship are undoubtedly the most comprehensive and reliable source of information on both the Crew’s health and safety of the working conditions onboard, as well as the instant condition of the Ship they operate, including her current or longer-term Safety vulnerabilities by the pending repair and maintenance issues that may affect the seaworthiness of the vessel. Conditions that no snap-shot Vetting questionnaires, or the time-restricted Condition Inspections, and definitely the periodical Class Surveys could possibly detect, or uncover.
The Maritime rule of law includes the International treaties governing navigation, the marine environment, shipping, and the labor practices at sea, including the MLC 2006 Convention, which sets out the international Seafarers’ rights at work, including employment terms, health and safety, living and working conditions. Any Opacity, Obscurity, Cloudiness, Ambiguity, or Secrecy on all the above matters should not be allowed by any Private Corporate Policies and Practices whatsoever.
Whistleblowing is an assurance of Transparency necessary for Maritime Sustainability which needs to be included as a right of the Seafarers under the MLC / IMO agencies and protected by both the Common and the Maritime law.
This story underscores the idea that executives that “manage” large corporations at any level, anywhere in the world, aren’t as smart as the general public think. Nor are they as smart as they likely think of themselves. When seen through the prism of social media postings and industry online publications, we can’t help but think how incredibly inept they can actually be.
Yes I appreciate these executives may have gone to some very fancy Ivy league business school, probably were groomed along the way through the various levels of upward management programs internal with whatever company they are employed at. They may even have been “head-hunted” by one company to move on into another corporation. But in reality, maybe they can crunch numbers real well but human management skills are sorely lacking.
Given that Maersk has just suffered through two HUGELY self-inflicted problems that have blown up on the internet, you would think they would do all that they could to address how the deal with employee/vessel crew issues.
Nope. To be fair, I do not know anything about the individuals involved, nor the circumstances about the specific issues between the vessel Master and the Chief Mate that may have played a part in why the issue was handled the way it was. I will say I hear about this ‘daily’ as I stand on a ship for hours piloting while speaking directly to shipmasters of all cultures, a variety of companies, on different types of ships. This is in fact the norm, not the exception.
It could very easily have been a “personality conflict” between the officers and it blew up into a much larger problem than it needs to be. But here again, the vessel manager assigned to this ship in particular should be making the effort to engage with the C/M and CHENG, in addition to the Master, to circumvent these problems becoming much larger than they already were. It sounds like that wasn’t happening regardless of whatever tension my have existed between two senior deck officers. So now Maersk management is facing another long legal battle. It will be interesting to watch the appeal ruling.
Then of course there is the sexual abuse issue aboard another Maersk vessel the M/V ALLIANCE FAIRFAX. To be clear, a 19 y/o female cadet was raped by a licensed engineer old enough to be her father, for those who are unaware. How that was managed is textbook wrong. Everyone involved went kicking and screaming all the way, so it seems. Not until the case ‘broke’ with legacy media, did real tangible action start happening. To be fair to Maersk management, there were plenty of others involved that behaved like utter buffoons. In this day and age, where female executives are employed within the halls of maritime businesses, at the US Coast Guard (no less the Admiral at the top, eh?), Class Societies, insurers, and a plethora of other interested parties … one would think we have matured as an industry to take our employees and vessel crews past this kind of activity.
Ha! Obviously not. It isn’t all companies, it isn’t all ships. Fortunately for everyone involved, its the exception and not the rule. But if anyone is wondering WHY the maritime industry is having such a challenge hiring and retaining good, qualified, people to work on your vessels or in your office, you might want to read up more on these two stories. It’ll be educational (I would hope) on what NOT to do in putting out fires with regard to employee relations. That Maersk is now trying to appeal this particular case and thus, keep it in the industry news for a few more months, is stunning in it’s stupidity. OBVIOUSLY that decision came from the attorneys. Because they’re getting paid by the hour. Duh?! What would a normal smart person do to make this problem go away for good? Solve the problem first. Pay the man second. Third, make him sign a non-disclosure agreement or recover all monies. Last, never bring him back, as part of the deal. Done.