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 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (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), should Maersk’s termination of the seaman violated the federal Seaman’s Protection Act and ordered Maersk Line to reinstate the seaman and pay $457,759 in back wages, interest, compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages. “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.

Source: Nigerian Tribune July 27, 2023 17:47 UTC