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First-person accounts from inside the maritime industry

Whistleblowers

The maritime industry runs on silence. Crews are isolated, contracts are coercive, and the institutions meant to investigate misconduct are too often the ones committing it. The accounts below were written by mariners, officers, cadets, and Coast Guard insiders who decided silence was no longer an option. Read them. Believe them. And if you have your own story to tell, we can help you tell it.

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Featured accounts

Three stories we keep coming back to.

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy · Sept 27, 2021

I Was a 19-Year-Old Virgin When I Was Raped by a 60+ Year-Old 1st Engineer Aboard a Maersk Ship During Sea Year. I Know Several Other Current USMMA Students Who Were Also Raped During Sea Year.

By Midshipman-X

In our class of approximately 50 women, I know of at least 5 women who were forcibly raped during Sea Year. And I am one of them.
Read the full account →

U.S. Coast Guard · Jun 9, 2024

The Coast Guard Used Me to Lie to Victims of Sexual Assault at the Coast Guard Academy as Part of their Operation Fouled Anchor Coverup. I Can No Longer Be Part of this System.

By Shannon Norenberg, former U.S. Coast Guard Academy Sexual Assault Response Coordinator

We weren't sent out there to help these people. We were sent out there as part of an elaborate cover-up of Operation Fouled Anchor designed to hide the existence of the investigation from Congress and the public.
Read the full account →

U.S. Navy · Sept 2, 2024

I am a Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) for the United States Navy & I’m Blowing the Whistle on Our Toxic Work Culture

By a U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer

The biggest myth in the Navy SWO community is that keeping silent while your chain of command terrorizes you makes you tough and resilient — that by enduring it, you're a true SWO. No, it makes you a fucking coward.
Read the full account →

All accounts

Browse the full archive of whistleblower accounts.

How we work with whistleblowers

Since June 2020, more than 100 mariners, officers, cadets, and Coast Guard insiders have published their accounts with MLAA. Their stories have changed federal law, ended careers, and forced institutions to reckon with what they tried to hide.

We do not publish your name, photo, or identifying details without your written consent.

We will help you decide what to share and what to hold back. We have worked with mariners who published under their real names, mariners who used pseudonyms, and mariners who decided in the end not to publish at all. All three are valid choices.

We are journalists and advocates, not your lawyers. If your situation calls for legal representation, we can refer you to maritime attorneys, including the team at Justice4Mariners.

Reach us at Help@MaritimeLegalAid.com or call/text 302-827-3890. For sensitive disclosures, contact us first and we will send instructions for secure submission.