Perils of Working at Sea
However, there are still perils that lurk out there for the commercial
mariner of the twenty first century. An error in judgment that a
captain or mate would have made decades ago, might have been
treated as a civil offense that would have brought a money fine upon
the vessel owner. However, it has become a stricter world today.
When a commercial mariner makes a mistake today, it can mean
being subject to criminal prosecution. It can mean suspension of a
hard-earned license.
There was a recent article that appeared in the June 24, 2007
Baltimore Sun titled Justice Capsized, written by Robert Little.
Justice Capsized discussed the US Coast Guard’s administrative
court system. In the article, Mr. Little wrote about how the system is
stacked against the mariner. He provided a statistic that in 6,300
charges filed by Coast Guard investigators since 1999, mariners
have prevailed in only 14 cases. Mr. Little compared this to the
administrative law hearings conducted by the Social Security
Administration, which prevails in 43% of its cases. Justice Capsized
refers to Judge Jeffie J. Massey, who in a sworn statement said she
was told to always rule in favor of the Coast Guard and came under
intense pressure when she did not. The article demonstrates that
protecting one’s hard-earned Coast Guard license can be a
challenging prospect.
Although many professional mariners carry insurance policies for
their marine licenses, many do not. So while the professional
mariner of today faces many pressures and stresses such as long
work days, huge responsibilities for the lives of crewmembers and
multi-million dollar vessels, employment law issues, scheduling
complications for watch-standing personnel, it is yet another large
stress to think about answering in court for decisions he or she
makes in the course of running the vessel. And that can be a
weighty burden, because as ships pass through narrow channels,
within a stone’s throw of one another, where the inland collision
rules get very complex and numerous rules might apply and seem
to overlap, the mariner must also think about how a decision he or
she made under pressure, in a split second, might later be
scrutinized in the future… by people who’ve had the opportunity of
examining the situation in full detail, with full 20/20 hindsight.
Copyright 2006 - Copyright Warning
Rights reserved - U.S. Copyright Law Carries Criminal & Civil
Penalties for Infringement - 17 U.S.C. § 506 and 18 U.S.C. § 2319
However, there are still perils that lurk out there for the commercial
mariner of the twenty first century. An error in judgment that a
captain or mate would have made decades ago, might have been
treated as a civil offense that would have brought a money fine upon
the vessel owner. However, it has become a stricter world today.
When a commercial mariner makes a mistake today, it can mean
being subject to criminal prosecution. It can mean suspension of a
hard-earned license.
There was a recent article that appeared in the June 24, 2007
Baltimore Sun titled Justice Capsized, written by Robert Little.
Justice Capsized discussed the US Coast Guard’s administrative
court system. In the article, Mr. Little wrote about how the system is
stacked against the mariner. He provided a statistic that in 6,300
charges filed by Coast Guard investigators since 1999, mariners
have prevailed in only 14 cases. Mr. Little compared this to the
administrative law hearings conducted by the Social Security
Administration, which prevails in 43% of its cases. Justice Capsized
refers to Judge Jeffie J. Massey, who in a sworn statement said she
was told to always rule in favor of the Coast Guard and came under
intense pressure when she did not. The article demonstrates that
protecting one’s hard-earned Coast Guard license can be a
challenging prospect.
Although many professional mariners carry insurance policies for
their marine licenses, many do not. So while the professional
mariner of today faces many pressures and stresses such as long
work days, huge responsibilities for the lives of crewmembers and
multi-million dollar vessels, employment law issues, scheduling
complications for watch-standing personnel, it is yet another large
stress to think about answering in court for decisions he or she
makes in the course of running the vessel. And that can be a
weighty burden, because as ships pass through narrow channels,
within a stone’s throw of one another, where the inland collision
rules get very complex and numerous rules might apply and seem
to overlap, the mariner must also think about how a decision he or
she made under pressure, in a split second, might later be
scrutinized in the future… by people who’ve had the opportunity of
examining the situation in full detail, with full 20/20 hindsight.
Copyright 2006 - Copyright Warning
Rights reserved - U.S. Copyright Law Carries Criminal & Civil
Penalties for Infringement - 17 U.S.C. § 506 and 18 U.S.C. § 2319
| perils of working at sea |
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| U.S. Department of Labor - These are contact numbers for Dept of Labor Offices that maintain regional employment, unemployment, wage information ALASKA - Juneau, AK - (907) 465-4518 ARIZONA - Phoenix, AZ - (602) 542-3871 ARKANSAS - Little Rock, AR - (501) 682-4500 CALIFORNIA - Sacramento, CA - (916) 262-2160 COLORADO - Denver, CO - (303) 318-8898 CONNECTICUT, Wethersfield,CT, (860) 263-6255 DELAWARE - Wilmington, DE - (302) 761-8052 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA - (202) 671-1633 FLORIDA - Tallahassee, FL - (850) 488-1048 GEORGIA - Atlanta, GA - (404) 232-3875 GUAM - Tamuning, GU - (671) 475-7062 HAWAII - Honolulu, HI - (808) 586-8996 IDAHO - Boise, ID - (800) 772-2553 ILLINOIS - Chicago, IL - (312) 793-2316 INDIANA - Indianapolis, IN - (317) 232-7460 IOWA - Des Moines, IA - (515) 281-0255 KANSAS - Topeka, KS - (785) 296-5058 LOUISIANA - Baton Rouge, LA - (225) 342-3141 MAINE - Augusta, ME - (207) 287-2271 MARYLAND - Baltimore, MD - (410) 767-2250 MASSACHUSETTS - Boston, MA - (617) 626-6556 MICHIGAN - Detroit, MI - (313) 456-3090 MINNESOTA - St. Paul, MN - (651) 282-2714 MISSISSIPPI - Jackson, MS - (601) 321-6261 MISSOURI - Jefferson City, MO - (573) 751-3609 |
| U.S. Department of Labor - These are contact numbers for Dept of Labor Offices that maintain regional employment, unemployment, wage information. MONTANA - Helena, MT - (406) 444-2430 NEBRASKA - Lincoln, NE - (402) 471-9964NEVADA - Carson City, NV - (775) 684-0387 NEW HAMPSHIRE - Concord, NH - (603) 228-4123 NEW JERSEY - Trenton, NJ 08625 - (609) 292-0099 NEW MEXICO - Albuquerque, NM - (505) 222-4683 NEW YORK - Albany, NY - (518) 457-6369 NORTH CAROLINA - Raleigh, NC - (919) 733-2936 NORTH DAKOTA - Bismarck, ND - (701) 328-2868 OHIO - Columbus, OH - (614) 752-9494 OKLAHOMA - Oklahoma City, OK - (405) 557-7265 OREGON - Salem, OR - (503) 947-1212 PENNSYLVANIA - Harrisburg, PA - (717) 787-3266 PUERTO RICO Hato Rey, PR - (787) 754-5340 RHODE ISLAND - Cranston, RI - (401) 462-8767 SOUTH CAROLINA - Columbia, SC - (803) 737-2660 SOUTH DAKOTA - Aberdeen, SD - (605) 626-2314 TENNESSEE - Nashville, TN - (615) 741-2284 TEXAS - Austin, TX - (512) 491-4802 UTAH - Salt Lake City, UT - (801) 526-9401 VERMONT - Montpelier, VT - (802) 828-4153 VIRGIN ISLANDS, Charlotte Amalie, VI 340 776-3700 VIRGINIA - Richmond, VA - (804) 786-7496 WASHINGTON - Lacey, WA - (360) 438-4804 WEST VIRGINIA - Charleston, WV - (304) 558-2660 WISCONSIN - Madison, WI - (608) 267-2393 WYOMING - Casper, WY - (307) 473-3807 |
When we think of maritime
hazards, we tend to think of the
classic perils of the sea such as
icebergs, typhoons, hurricanes,
granite reefs waiting to rip open
the bottom of a ship that has lost
power. However, with the advent
of modern navigation electronics,
dependable diesel powerplants,
satellite communications, and
radar-based weather prediction,
many of those perils seem to
have fallen under the control of
the commercial mariner.
hazards, we tend to think of the
classic perils of the sea such as
icebergs, typhoons, hurricanes,
granite reefs waiting to rip open
the bottom of a ship that has lost
power. However, with the advent
of modern navigation electronics,
dependable diesel powerplants,
satellite communications, and
radar-based weather prediction,
many of those perils seem to
have fallen under the control of
the commercial mariner.
| Criminal Liability - Read This! The maritime industry is a rough place to work. The maritime professional must be knowledgeable in so many areas, from navigation to seamanship to engineering. He or she must at times be officer, scholar, leader, or follower. The maritime professional also works in a world that has become increasingly regulated, much more so today than two or three decades ago. Read More |
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