An American ship captain has surrendered his license amid allegations that he raped a female U.S. Merchant Marine Academy cadet and attempted to assault another while working on board a U.S.-flagged ship at sea, according to an exclusive report by Long Island-focussed Newsday.
The captain, who is identified in the report as John Christopher Merrone, reportedly surrendered his Merchant Mariner Credential to the U.S. Coast Guard voluntarily last month, thereby preventing him from working at sea, following a complaint alleging that he drugged two female cadets and sexually assaulted one of them.
The incident was first reported by CNN in early October, but the report did not include details about the ship or when the incident took place.
According to the Newsday report, the incident took place on September 19, 2019, on board the Liberty Glory bulk carrier operated by Liberty Maritime Corporation.
The Coast Guard Investigative Service referred the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District, which has declined to prosecute. Merrone has denied the allegations against him and has not been charged.
The incident follows the explosive revelations of instances of sexual assault and harassment against female cadets during sea year training while attending USMMA after an anonymous blog post published last year from a female victim and student at the federal service academy. Her report claimed she was raped by a superior officer while serving as an engine cadet aboard a U.S.-flagged Maersk Line, Limited ship during her sea year training in the Middle East in 2019. The victim, who became known as Midshipman X, later revealed herself as Hope Hicks.
Maersk Line, Limited, which is the U.S.-flag arm of Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk that provides ocean transportation services to the U.S. government, is facing two lawsuits claiming that the company failed to protect USMMA midshipmen from sexual assault and harassment. The lawsuits were filed on behalf of Hicks and a second unidentified USMMA student who claims she also experienced extreme sexual harassment, unwanted touching and discrimination while on board the same MLL ship as Hicks two years later.
USMMA’s Sea Year training program was temporarily paused in November 2021 after Hicks’ story became public, but the program was reinstated about a month later with new policies and procedures in place to protect cadets against sexual assault and sexual harassment.
“[The Maritime Administration] has strengthened measures that will help prevent sexual assault and harassment, aggressively prosecute perpetrators, and improve support for survivors — while supporting urgently needed culture change in the maritime industry to make it safer for all mariners,” Maritime Administrator Ann Phillips said in a statement reported by Newsday.
Merrone was previously accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Florida in 2011 for which he sentenced to two years in prison for battery and false imprisonment. His conviction was later overturned on appeal.
