Against a Sea of Troubles

Isolated and abused, women in the Merchant Marine are finally speaking out.

- By Amelia Schonbek

ANY WOMAN WHO WORKS IN THE MARITIME INDUSTRY WILL REMEMBER WHERE SHE WAS WHEN SHE READ ABOUT MIDSHIPMAN X.

This was the pseudonym used by a student at the US Merchant Marine Academy when she published a blog post in September 2021 alleging that, as a 19-year-old cadet on board a cargo ship, she was raped by a senior officer. Afterward, the officer intimidated and threatened her; she had to remain on the ship and work alongside him for another 50 days.

The horrific specificity of Midshipman X's account jolted the offshore world, as did the fact that she had written about it so publicly. In the Merchant Marine, the ubiquity of sexual violence against women is almost never acknowledged. But Midshipman X wrote that of the more than 50 women in her academy class, she had not spoken to a single one who "has not been sexually harassed, sexually assaulted, or degraded" during their time at the academy or while training offshore. She alleged that five cadets in her class were raped at sea.