Maersk Fires 5 in Midshipman-X Case

Danish paper “Berlingske” reports. This is a google translation:

Maersk Fires 5 After Case of Possible Rape

It sent shockwaves through the country’s largest company, AP Moller - Maersk, when a 19-year-old American female naval officer in October described that she had been raped on board one of Maersk’s ships.

The woman described the incident in a blog in anonymised form, but the description was so detailed that the case quickly reached the table of Maersk CEO Søren Skous. Subsequently, five seafarers from the ship in question were suspended and an investigation was launched.

The results of this are now ready, Maersk informs in a written response to Berlingske.

“In the wake of the investigation, Maersk Line has terminated the contract with the ship’s captain, engineer and third assistant engineer due to breaches of the company’s alcohol policy among crew members,” writes Maersk, adding that two more employees have been fired because they have not cooperation on the investigation of the possible rape.

“Due to the inability to talk to the parties involved about the allegations of rape, it has not been possible for Maersk Line to find evidence for the allegations,” Maersk writes, adding that sexism and sexual harassment have no place in the company.

Only woman

The original blog post states that the 19-year-old was the only woman on board when she began her internship on the ship.

She goes on to say that already at the beginning of the trip she was met with several sexist comments and, among other things, was told that women should not be on a ship, but should stay at home.

It went seriously wrong when the ship sailed out of a port in the Middle East. The sailors had allegedly bought significant amounts of alcohol, although it is forbidden to consume alcohol on Maersk’s ships.

The woman chose to isolate herself in her room, but was reportedly asked to come up to the officers who made her drink what she estimates are eight to ten shots. She writes that she had never tasted alcohol before.

14 days ashore

According to the description, one of the officers - a 60-year-old so-called first master - raped her at a time when she was heavily intoxicated.

According to the blog, it happened while there were still 14 days until the ship was ashore. Later in the trip, the alleged rapist dragged the 19-year-old woman into her office and asked her not to tell others about the course of events. He reportedly said no one would believe her anyway.

The woman at one point considered telling the ship’s captain what had happened. He is described by the woman as someone who also likes to get drunk, but he was not drunk the night the woman was allegedly raped. However, she chose not to do so, partly because she had the impression that he was friends with the officers involved.

When the case came to light Maersk informed Berlingske that the company was aware of who the people involved were.

“We can see via our databases who has been on the ship in question at that time. At the same time, job titles are mentioned in the blog, and therefore we know who is being referred to,” said Palle Laursen, who is technical manager at Maersk.

Rumor was it was on one of the Alliance car carriers, and most of the involved were part of the “mafia.”

I also heard it was one of the Alliance RORO’s.

Never heard of a “mafia” reference to the accused.

Mafia?

Filipino Mafia probably

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Nah, US Flag…

Never seen Filipinos on a US flag ship?

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Am I the only one who finds it odd that Maersk Line fires some American officers and the only place to find a word about this in the press is in Danish newspapers? Is no one in the US going to follow up?

According to another translated article: “Maersk Line has now sent a report on the investigation to the US authorities.” I wonder which authorities and if that investigation will subsequently be available for public consumption.

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It’s too soon for word to have fully gotten out. Give it a day or two.

FBI responsible for crimes on U.S. flag vessels, USCG wrt action against mariners with U.S. documents.

Too soon??? I heard it was an Alliance ship months ago. You know that Maersk knew exactly what ship it was about 8 minutes after the news first broke.

The fact that the crew members that had been suspended have now been fired is recent news.

I agree they knew right away. The fact that the accused have lawyered up and the others were fired for Alcohol violations sounds like the Maersk investigation concluded as you might expect. I think the union is probably walking a tightrope. They are protecting themselves from lack of representation allegation. Once the authorities either charge the accused or clear them, you should see the unions try and do more damage control. I suspect it will take a bit longer to get the outcome on the Federal investigations. Given the focus on Sea Year and the reporting to date I am sure it will be fully covered as it should be in the future.

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May need to do some reading 3M: 46 CFR Chapter I subchapter B…

And what does that say? Innocent until proven guilty?

It says you need 6 months in the engine department for a QMED endorsement. Or maybe it says you need a drug test when applying for an MMC. Or that you need a course to get a tankerman endorsement. Or maybe that the email address for the NMC is IAskNMC@uscg.mil.

Should I keep guessing? Or maybe you can be more specific.

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But you of all people should know!

I’m sure it’s something about being a US citizen to work on a US endorsement or something. Because that means you can’t be from a different country originally…

Unless the 3M is running for the office of President of the U.S. he can be “originally” born anyplace, just needs to be a citizen.

Was referring to this remark:

Here is the link to the citizenship requirements for Mariners US Flag:
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-46/chapter-I/subchapter-B

Plenty of foreign born officers and ratings on US flag merchant ships.

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So no one lost their jobs for the sexual assault thing. Only for run-of-the-mill alcohol violations that occur daily on many ships all over the world. I’m sure that won’t seriously harm any one’s future employment prospects. Except maybe a HR scapegoat ashore.