{"id":1576762,"date":"2024-03-27T11:55:27","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T11:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacobin.com\/2024\/03\/baltimore-bridge-crash-maersk-whistleblowers\/"},"modified":"2024-03-27T11:55:58","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T11:55:58","slug":"cargo-giant-in-baltimore-crash-silenced-whistleblowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/03\/27\/cargo-giant-in-baltimore-crash-silenced-whistleblowers\/","title":{"rendered":"Cargo Giant in Baltimore Crash Silenced Whistleblowers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n\n\n\n

The company responsible for the Baltimore bridge collapse blocked its employees from reporting safety concerns to the US Coast Guard. It is now being sanctioned by federal regulators for violating a whistleblower protection law.<\/h3>\n\n\n
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\n Collision of the cargo ship Dali<\/cite> with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 27, 2024. (Scott Olson \/ Getty Images)\n <\/figcaption> \n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n \n

The company that chartered the cargo ship that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore was recently sanctioned by regulators for blocking its employees from directly reporting safety concerns to the US Coast Guard \u2014 in violation of a seaman whistleblower protection law, according to regulatory filings reviewed by the\u00a0Lever<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Eight months before a Maersk Line Limited\u2013chartered cargo ship crashed into the Baltimore bridge, likely killing six people and injuring others<\/a>, the Labor Department\u00a0sanctioned<\/a> the shipping conglomerate for retaliating against an employee who reported unsafe working conditions aboard a Maersk-operated boat. In its order, the department found that Maersk had \u201ca policy that requires employees to first report their concerns to [Maersk] . . . prior to reporting it to the [Coast Guard] or other authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Federal regulators at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which operates under the Labor Department, called the policy \u201crepugnant\u201d and a \u201creprehensible and an egregious violation of the rights of employees,\u201d which \u201cchills them from contacting the [Coast Guard] or other authorities without contacting the company first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maersk\u2019s reporting policy was approved by company executives, federal regulators found in their investigation into the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Maersk\u2019s] Vice President of Labor Relations, admits that this Reporting Policy requires seamen to report safety concerns to the company and allow it time to abate the conditions before reporting to the [Coast Guard] or other regulatory agencies,\u201d Labor Department investigators said in their\u00a0report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During their investigation into Maersk, federal officials said there was \u201creasonable cause to believe\u201d that the company\u2019s policy violated the\u00a0Seaman\u2019s Protection Act<\/a>, which protects maritime workers who speak out about unsafe working conditions. Officials ordered the company to reinstate the employee and pay over\u00a0$700,000<\/a> in damages\u00a0and back wages. They also demanded that Maersk\u00a0revise<\/a> its policy\u00a0to allow seamen to contact the Coast Guard about safety concerns before notifying the company.<\/p>\n

The fired employee was a chief mate on the Safmarine Mafadi, a Maersk-operated vessel, who also served as a relief captain when needed. The seaman reported unrepaired leaks, unpermitted alcohol consumption onboard, inoperable lifeboats, faulty emergency fire suppression equipment, and other issues.<\/p>\n

Before he was fired, the employee was disciplined for not properly maintaining the logbook and failing to properly follow orders. The fired employee told federal regulators that he believed these disciplinary actions were \u201cretaliation for reporting alcohol consumption on board the vessel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maersk did not respond to\u00a0Lever<\/em> questions about the Labor Department\u2019s findings and its previous policy on workplace safety reporting ahead of publication.<\/p>\n

In a comment to other news outlets, Maersk\u00a0stated<\/a>: \u201cWe are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected. We can confirm that the container vessel \u2018DALI\u2019, operated by charter vessel company Synergy Group, is time chartered by Maersk and is carrying Maersk customers\u2019 cargo. No Maersk crew and personnel were onboard the vessel. We are closely following the investigations conducted by authorities and Synergy, and we will do our utmost to keep our customers informed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n \n\n \n \n \n

Whistleblower Protection<\/h2>\n \n

The Seaman\u2019s Protection Act was enacted in 1984 to protect maritime workers who reported statutory violations to the Coast Guard from company retaliation. These employees had been\u00a0left out<\/a> of other whistleblower laws\u00a0at the time. In 2010, the legislation was amended to also safeguard employees who refused to perform certain duties due to\u00a0fears of personal injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, companies that violate the Seaman\u2019s Protection Act can be subject to\u00a0hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines<\/a>. The Coast Guard also\u00a0encourages employees\u00a0to \u201creport any hazardous condition before it results in a costly mishap.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Despite the law explicitly protecting maritime employees from workplace abuses including whistleblower retaliation, experts say there have been relatively few whistleblower complaints. In 2017,\u00a0a case<\/a>\u00a0involving the Seaman\u2019s Protection Act made it to the Supreme Court seeking to protect a New York harbor worker, a \u201cpersistent safety advocate,\u201d who had been fired after reporting dangerous conditions, though the court declined to hear the case.<\/p>\n

Many maritime employers have a similar policy that prevents employees from directly contacting the Coast Guard or other regulatory agencies, according to Eric Rhine, a lawyer specializing in maritime injuries, aviation accident claims, and other issues at the Spagnoletti Law Firm.<\/p>\n

In a blog post, Rhine highlighted a\u00a0previous whistleblower retaliation case<\/a>\u00a0that found it was \u201c\u2018standard business practice\u2019 for employers to prohibit any direct contact by employees with government regulatory bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rhine also highlighted that maritime employees, who face\u00a0many work hazards<\/a>, have a right to report unsafe conditions aboard their vessels to federal regulators.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes accidents occur when they could have been avoided if proper and reasonable care was taken by those responsible for safe working conditions,\u201d Rhine wrote. \u201cThese accidents can leave employees with lasting impairment that prevents them from ever working again. Of course, even worse, they can be deadly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n \n \n \n

Total Collapse<\/h2>\n \n

The vessel that crashed into the Baltimore bridge, Dali<\/em>, was chartered by Maersk and operated by Synergy Marine Group, a ship management company based in Singapore. The ship had a crew of twenty-two foreign workers<\/a> from India. The boat is owned by Grace Ocean Private and was headed to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

Maersk, which is headquartered in Copenhagen, is one of the world\u2019s largest shipping companies, reporting more than $51 billion in revenue in 2023. The company operates in 130 countries and employs one hundred thousand workers, according to its annual report. As of December 2023, Maersk owned 310 ships and was chartering 362, which they say is one of the world\u2019s largest container shipping fleets.<\/p>\n

Since 2021, Maersk has spent\u00a0$2.7 million<\/a> lobbying\u00a0Congress and federal regulators on workers compensation, as well as port congestion and infrastructure issues, among other concerns, regulatory filings show.<\/p>\n

Since last summer, Maersk has been battling the International Longshoremen\u2019s Association \u2014 a labor union that represents sixty-five thousand maritime workers, including Maersk employees \u2014 over labor unrest at a port in Alabama.<\/p>\n

In August 2023, APM Terminals,\u00a0a division<\/a> of Maersk, sued the union, claiming that workers at its Mobile, Alabama port were on strike illegally during an active contract. The court case is ongoing, and documents filed by the union in March allege that the company illegally suspended six workers for \u201craising a concern about a safety issue at the job site.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of publication time, rescuers\u00a0have suspended<\/a> the search\u00a0for six missing construction workers who were working on the Baltimore bridge at the time of the collapse. The workers are presumed dead, officials said. One body\u00a0was reportedly<\/a> recovered from the river on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n \n \n \n\n \n \n

You can subscribe to David Sirota\u2019s investigative journalism project, the\u00a0Lever<\/i>, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post was originally published on Jacobin<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The company that chartered the cargo ship that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore was recently sanctioned by regulators for blocking its employees from directly reporting safety concerns to the US Coast Guard \u2014 in violation of a seaman whistleblower protection law, according to regulatory filings reviewed by the\u00a0Lever. Eight months before a [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1777,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576762"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1777"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1576762"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1576765,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576762\/revisions\/1576765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1576762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1576762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1576762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}