Former crew members sue US shipping firm over hijacking

November 24, 2009 · Filed Under Current 

maerskalabama2Last April we posted about the Chief Steward on the Maersk Alabama who sued Maersk for damages for sending him into piracy-prone waters near Somalia without adequate protection.  Apparently now, John Cronan, a third assistant engineer, and other crew members are now also suing for damages.

Company targeted by pirates sued in Houston by ex-crewmen

Cronan and several other crewmen have filed suit in Texas against Maersk Line Ltd. and Waterman Steamship Corp., alleging the companies were negligent in sending the ship into known pirate territory with inadequate protection.

The men are seeking compensation for physical and psychological damage they say they suffered during the spring hijacking, and for loss of income.

John Cronan was previously interviewed on the Today Show and denied that the crew ever lost control of the ship to the pirates:

“We didn’t have to retake the ship because we never surrendered it. We maintained control of the ship. We’re American seaman. We’re union members. We stuck together and did our jobs.”



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Comments

5 Responses to “Former crew members sue US shipping firm over hijacking”

  1. kennebec captain on November 24th, 2009 12:08 pm

    Good find, thanks.

  2. Rick on November 24th, 2009 8:07 pm

    There are times I think that Pogo was right – “we have met the enemy and he is us.”

  3. Barista Uno on November 25th, 2009 12:01 am

    The Maersk Alabama crew did the right thing. The areas where Somali pirates are known to operate are pretty much public knowledge. Yet merchant vessels continue to enter these areas because their owners want to avoid the added expense of using safer routes. Greed on both sides is helping perpetuate the whole problem.

    The pirate-infested waters off Somalia should now be declared a war zone. Shipowners who insist on sending their crews into these areas should pay them a war-time bonus without prejudice to the filing of tort claims.

  4. Rick on November 25th, 2009 8:20 am

    There is a problem with geography. There are no “safer routes” unless one completely abandons the Suez Canal. Also as pirates have now attacked ships up to 1,000 miles off the coast of Somalia, ships going to and from the Gulf are now also at risk. Short of shutting down world trade there are no safer routes. In the meantime the naval patrols have been catching and releasing pirates because most of the major nation states have lacked the political will to prosecute.

    All these lawsuits will accomplish is to make the already non-competitive US crews less attractive, and to penalize an operator who had comprehensive anti-pirate strategies in place well before most other ship owners.

  5. Maritime Monday 190 on November 30th, 2009 10:10 am

    [...] The Old Salt Blog has a MAERSK ALABAMA update in “Former crew members sue US shipping firm over hijacking“. [...]

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