Captain John Merrone Surrenders Captain’s License to Avoid Coast Guard Trial. Receives Permanent Lifetime Ban From U.S. Maritime Industry

New York, NY

By: MLAA

November 1, 2022

The downfall of accused serial rapist Captain John Merrone continues to progress at a swift pace. On October 7, 2022 CNN published a bombshell story titled “Ship captain allegedly drugged two students at sea, raped one of them,” which reported that the U.S. Coast Guard was seeking to revoke Captain Merrone’s Merchant Mariner’s license over allegations that he had drugged two cadets from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy aboard his vessel upon the high seas, raped one of the female cadets and attempted to sexually assault the other.

As MLAA previously reported, on October 12, 2022, in an unprecedented maritime labor action, Merrone was kicked out of the membership of the American Maritime Officers (AMO) labor union according to a resolution of AMO’s National Executive Board posted to the AMO website.

Today, Newsday reported that Merrone has now Voluntarily Surrendered his Captain’s license and Merchant Mariner Credential to the U.S. Coast Guard in an effort to avoid a Suspension & Revocation hearing before a Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge.

46 CFR § 5.203 provides that any holder of a Coast Guard-issued Merchant Mariner Credential or license “may surrender a credential or endorsement to the Coast Guard in preference to appearing at a hearing.”

The regulation also provides that “A holder voluntarily surrendering a credential or endorsement shall sign a written statement containing the stipulations that, 1) The surrender is made voluntarily in preference to appearing at a hearing; 2) All rights to the credential or endorsement surrendered are permanently relinquished; and, 3) Any rights with respect to a hearing are waived.”

Further, the regulation states, “A voluntary surrender of a credential or endorsement to an investigating officer in preference to appearing at a hearing is not to be accepted by an investigating officer unless the investigating officer is convinced that the holder fully realizes the effect of such surrender.”

This decision by Merrone and his legal team to voluntarily surrender his Captain’s license and to accept a permanent and lifetime ban from the maritime industry is likely related to an ongoing criminal investigation into Merrone by the U.S. Department of Justice that Newsday reported has been reopened following the publication of CNN’s October 7 story.

Relying on statements from the U.S. Coast Guard, on November 1, 2022 Newsday originally reported that the Coast Guard Investigative Service “referred the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, which declined to prosecute.” 

However, hours later the Newsday story was updated to reflect a “correction” by the Coast Guard. The updated story read:

“The Coast Guard Investigative Service, which investigated the allegations, initially said that it referred the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District, which declined to prosecute. But shortly after Newsday published a story on the case, the Coast Guard said it learned that the criminal case against Merrone remains open.”

Merrone is now permanently banned from working aboard American ships, but with a re-opened criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, his downfall may be far from over.

If you have information regarding Captain John Merrone relevant to ongoing law enforcement investigations into alleged druggings and sexual assaults committed by Merrone, please contact MLAA by emailing help@maritimelegalaid.com or calling/texting 302-827-3890.