The engineer accused of raping a sea cadet is known to have worked on ships for at least 456 days after the alleged attack, according to US Coast Guard documents.
The man — identified in public documents as Edgar Sison — faces a potential 12-month suspension from working after being accused of violating alcohol policies on board the Maersk Line Ltd cargo ship Alliance Fairfax in 2019.
Sison was sent a disciplinary notice last week just days after he was named by US network CNN over the alleged August 2019 attack on board the Alliance Fairfax, where he was first assistant engineer.
The complaint against Sison does not address the sexual assault claims, which remain under investigation. Prosecutors at the US Department of Justice are still considering potential criminal charges.
The Coast Guard — which is responsible for suspending a seafarer’s right to work — can generally only act to remove a US seafarer’s right to work once a decision is made on potential criminal charges.
“I can confirm that on March 17, 2023, the US Coast Guard filed a complaint alleging a violation of company policy for using or possessing alcohol while on or assigned to a vessel in August 2019,” a Coast Guard spokesman said.
“The complaint against Mr Sison does not allege sexual misconduct, and the Coast Guard’s administrative investigation into alleged sexual offences remains open.”
US authorities have come under fire for renewing Sison’s seafarer credentials despite being identified for a Coast Guard investigation by his alleged victim — Hope Hicks — in 2021.
The complaint sent by the Coast Guard to Sison alleges that he breached Maersk Line’s alcohol policy.
It adds that he was acting as a senior officer when “he invited junior crew members in the engineering department to his stateroom and encouraged them to consume alcohol until they became visibly intoxicated and vomited, which created a threat to the safety and security of the vessel and crew”.
It said that he had worked for at least 456 days on oceangoing vessels — until February 2022 — after the alleged incident. The complaint does not identify if he worked after February last year.
Sison has 20 days to reply to the document before a potential hearing in Jacksonville, Florida. The Coast Guard is seeking a year-long suspension.
‘Sickened’
Hicks told TradeWinds this month that she was “sickened” that Sison had been able to work on ships alongside women who were unaware of the allegations against him.
Hicks, a former US sea cadet, detailed her ordeal on board the ship in an anonymous blog under the name of Midshipman X two years after the attack.
In the account, Hicks said she was pressured into drinking alcohol until she blacked out in her cabin. She said five of her class of 50 women had been raped during their year at sea as part of their training programme.
Her blog post sparked demands for cultural change within shipping to make it a safer environment for women.
Hicks later dropped her right to anonymity and settled with US-based Maersk Line. The company sacked five seafarers as part of its own inquiry.
Sison and his lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment. But Sison told CNN that he had no comment on the Coast Guard complaint.
His union, the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association, said it had not been contacted by the US authorities about any of the “troubling” allegations reported online and in the press.
