The US Merchant Marine Academy's at-sea training programme is set to resume this week with new safety standards in place, but critics argue the new rules do not go far enough.
When Sea Year — where sophomores and juniors at the university are placed aboard commercial ships for training purposes — resumes on Wednesday following the publication of new standards for education and reporting around sexual misconduct by the US Department of Transportation (DOT).
Among them are requirements that vessel operators designate a sexual misconduct contact on board, account for master keys, prohibit crew members from entering cadets rooms and vice versa and report any instance of sexual misconduct to the academy.
"The plan is an initial step, and all parties are committed to continuing to review this programme frequently, and to make improvements whenever needed to ensure the safety and success of cadets," acting maritime administrator Lucinda Lessley said in a statement.
Operators will have to comply with the standards if they are to take students on Sea Year. The standards, known as Every Mariner Builds a Respectful Culture, or EMBARC, have near-, medium- and long-term actions.
They require the designated contact to communicate regularly with the students, training for crew and collaboration with the government on sexual misconduct issues.
Former Maritime Administration general counsel Denise Rucker Krepp said the standards are big on self-assessment for vessel operators but lack enforcement mechanisms.
"This is all stuff they should have been doing," she said.
Sea Year was paused in November following an anonymous current academy student, now known popularly as Midshipman X, publishing a first-hand account of her rape aboard a Maersk Line Ltd ship when she was 19.
It was the second suspension of the programme in the last five years. Both were spurred by allegations of sexual misconduct.
But Rucker Krepp said the Maritime Administration and DOT have known about sexual abuse and harassment issues going back a decade after she pushed for an investigation in 2011.
The US Merchant Marine Academy has about 1,045 students.
Along with the Military Academy, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy and Coast Guard Academy, Kings Point is one of five federally funded service academies. Students must obtain a merchant marine officer’s licence before graduation and maintain it for the next six years while serving five years as an officer or in another maritime-related job. Students also join the Navy Reserve.
During Sea Year, students spend parts of their second and third years at the academy on board US-flagged ships.
The academy pitches the programme as key for student development, providing the opportunity to learn in a hands-on environment while developing self-discipline, confidence and human relations skills while sailing the globe.
The investigation ultimately never happened and she said she was forced to resign.
"Okay, that's kind of what you've been doing now for several years. So what's new in here? And why has no one been held accountable for the assaults over the last 10 years?" Rucker Krepp said.
"I see a lot of 'we need to train students'. No, you need to prosecute the harassers and the rapists. That's really where you go and how you stop this.
"You still have students that are petrified at this school to talk. What measures are they taking at this school to give students the confidence to say things?"
She said the federal government should prosecute those who have engaged in sexual assault and harassment of cadets. She compared the academy's situation to the one at Fort Hood, a US Army base rocked by reports of murder, suicide and sexual assault.
Issues surfaced there last year and resulted in the disciplining and firing of several soldiers and officers.
The US Coast Guard has initiated an investigation into Midshipman X's allegations and Maersk Line Ltd suspended several of the crew members.
