Documents Reveal Maersk Rehired Man Who Sexually Harassed, Assaulted & Stalked Young U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Cadet
“A Maersk employee who was fired for sexual harassment was later rehired on one of the company’s own ships. Maersk – who has been suffering from cases of sexual harassment and rape – confirms that sex offenders in the U.S. can get back on the ships, but says the U.S. system makes it difficult to prevent. Several experts express skepticism.”
See original Maersk Investigation Files and CGIS Investigation Report Here.
See the perpetrator’s Coast Gaurd S&R files Here.
Via Berlingske
March 24, 2025
For weeks, he followed her around the ship, which was sailing in the Indian Ocean.
She was one of the few women onboard and repeatedly asked him to stay away.
He started by touching her buttocks and responded with, “Yeah, yeah, sweetheart,” when the 60-year-old boatswain was told not to touch her.
Later, in the ship’s gym, the boatswain stood staring at her for a long time. The two were alone, and he told the female cadet she was going to “ruin her sexy body” by working out.
These incidents were just some of the many the young female cadet experienced with the 60-year-old boatswain on the Maersk Memphis in 2018.
Eventually, Maersk fired the older man for sexual harassment.
According to case documents, Maersk concluded that he had subjected her to “sexual harassment, touching, and threats of violence and unwanted sexual contact.” The conclusion also noted that his behavior was escalating and could lead to further incidents if no action was taken.
But that was not the end of the story.
Two years after serving a three-month suspension, the man was rehired and returned to a Maersk ship.
The case is described in a series of documents from U.S. maritime authorities. Other documents detail how the boatswain was rehired by the company, a fact that Maersk has also confirmed.
Back After Sexual Harassment
The man later worked on another Maersk ship for several years until he retired last summer.
Maersk acknowledges that seafarers involved in sexual harassment cases in the U.S. can re-enter the Maersk fleet.
Two experts call this concerning, saying the practice sends a dangerous message to women who face sexual harassment at sea—where they can be isolated for weeks.
The 2018 incident is one of several sexual harassment and assault cases that have plagued the Danish shipping giant in recent years. Many of these cases have occurred within Maersk’s large American subsidiary.
Unions play a significant role in this issue, according to Maersk.
Union Influence and Legal Limitations
In the U.S., unions have more influence over who gets to work on ships than the shipping companies themselves.
Maersk’s U.S. subsidiary has tried to push the American government to create a database of seafarers whose licenses have been revoked due to sexual harassment, but this has not yet materialized.
Nynne Norman Scheuer, Maersk’s Director of Marine HR and Culture Transformation, explains that the system in the U.S. affects how crews are staffed and why dismissed seafarers can return.
She notes that Maersk can flag an employee if they don’t want them back but cannot legally prevent a seafarer from returning if U.S. authorities have investigated and deemed them either innocent or as having served their punishment.
“If we were to ban a seafarer from a ship, it could end in a lawsuit,” she says.
“Zero Tolerance” Sounds Hollow
Scheuer refuses to comment on the specific case or how often dismissed employees return. She also declines to say whether similar cases have occurred elsewhere in the world.
The case surprises gender researcher Kenneth Reinicke from Roskilde University, who finds it contradictory that Maersk claims to have a zero-tolerance policy on sexual harassment while allowing such rehirings.
“It sends a dangerous signal that such behavior is only given a slap on the wrist when there are no harsher consequences,” he says, adding that it risks sending the message that the company does not take such cases seriously.
Mille Mortensen, a researcher specializing in bullying and harassment at the University of Copenhagen, notes that research shows it is crucial for victims of sexual harassment that organizations handle cases respectfully and fairly.
“If it’s true that this is how he moved on with his life, I would be very concerned about being his next colleague—especially if I were a woman,” she says.
Chased Around the Ship
After weeks of harassment, the female cadet handed a list of incidents to the captain.
She wrote that the 60-year-old boatswain had followed her around the ship and told her he wanted to get her drunk to see if she could still say no to him.
She also described an incident where she was walking down a ship corridor, and the boatswain blatantly looked her up and down, said “yummy,” stuck out his tongue, and made gestures with it.
He also allegedly told her that if she had been a man, he would have beaten her.
One night, he reportedly accessed her Facebook account and messaged one of her friends, falsely claiming she had slept with the chief officer.
The list led to a major investigation, including interviews with multiple crew members.
A witness confirmed the cadet’s experiences and added that the boatswain often stood uncomfortably close to intimidate her.
Maersk concluded that she had been subjected to sexual harassment, inappropriate touching, and threats of violence and unwanted sexual contact. The boatswain was fired.
Following his dismissal, he received a three-month suspension from working on any ship, imposed by a U.S. maritime court. For comparison, testing positive for drugs like marijuana in the U.S. can lead to a 12-month suspension.
“That’s Just How I Was Raised”
When his sentence was handed down, the boatswain denied all accusations—except that he had called the cadet “babe” and “baby.”
“That’s just how I was raised,” he explained.
Asked whether he knew this violated Maersk’s policy, he responded:
“I’m 60 years old. I’ve done this all my life. I’m not changing now.”
He even refused to sign his termination notice, according to the documents.
What Happened to the Cadet?
It is unknown whether the young female cadet completed her education and remained in the maritime industry. Attempts to contact her were unsuccessful.
However, previous cases suggest that many women leave the industry permanently after experiencing sexual harassment at sea.
Meanwhile, the older boatswain returned to Maersk and continued working on another company-owned container ship.
When he retired in 2024, he was honored for his service and wished “fair winds” in his union’s monthly magazine.
A photo of him highlighted his long career as a union member since 2005 and his continued professional development at one of the largest maritime training institutions in the U.S.
His last assignment was on the Maersk Detroit. The ship he was fired from in 2018 was Maersk Memphis.
A Highly Unusual Case
Roskilde University gender researcher Kenneth Reinicke acknowledges that people should have the opportunity to return after serving their punishment but finds this case particularly unusual.
“You can debate when someone has served their sentence, but it seems completely absurd that he was rehired by the same company,” he says.
Researcher Mille Mortensen argues that re-employment after a sexual harassment case is not necessarily problematic—it depends on whether the person has shown a willingness to change their behavior. But she notes that, based on the case details, the boatswain did not seem inclined to change.
“It really depends on how willing someone is to accept criticism and modify their behavior,” she says.
A Pattern of Cases at Maersk
In recent years, Maersk has faced multiple cases of sexual harassment and serious assaults on its ships.
One particularly shocking case involved a brutal rape on a Maersk vessel in 2019, which sent shockwaves through the company. This led to a major internal investigation into the extent of the problem.
However, Maersk has kept the findings of that investigation private and still refuses to disclose how widespread sexual harassment is within its fleet.