End of backlog

BOUCHARD Transportation Co. Inc. and three former and current management officials from the Long Island-based petroleum barge company have paid $375,000 in restitution to the brother of one of two seamen killed in a 2017 barge explosion off Port Aransas, Texas.

The seaman alleged the company fired him for cooperating with investigators and reporting safety concerns to the US Coast Guard following the deadly blast on board Buster Bouchard/B. No. 255.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) later found that the incident likely stemmed from a lack of effective maintenance and safety management.

Investigators for US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health

Administration’s (OSHA) Whistleblower Protection Programs found that the employers’ actions constituted retaliation against the seaman for protected activity under the Seaman’s Protection Act (SPA) and would dissuade a seaman from reporting safety issues.

Reporting alleged violations of maritime safety laws and regulations, cooperating with safety investigations and furnishing information to the Coast Guard about facts related to any marine casualty resulting in death are protected activities under the SPA.

“Employers and vessel owners must know and respect that, under the Seaman’s Protection Act, seamen have the right to report safety concerns and cooperate with the US Coast Guard and other safety investigators,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Richard Mendelson

Ain New York.

“Failure to recognise these rights can instill a culture of intimidation that could lead to disastrous or deadly consequences for workers.”

In addition to the payment, Bouchard Transportation and the individual respondents agreed to take other remedial actions in a settlement agreement with OSHA to resolve violations of the whistleblower protection provisions of the SPA.

Under the agreement, the company must remove any reference to the seaman’s termination and exercising of his rights under the SPA from their files, and provide a neutral reference if contacted by any prospective employer.

LL ships stranded by the grounding of the giant container ship Ever Given in the Suez Canal in March had passed through the canal by Saturday, ending the backlog that built up during the blockage, the canal authority said.

The last 61 ships, out of 422 ships that were queuing when the vessel was dislodged on Monday, passed through the vital trade artery on Saturday, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said.

International supply chains were thrown into disarray when the 400-metre-long (430-yard) Ever Given ran aground in the canal on March 23, with specialist rescue teams taking almost a week to free her after extensive dredging and repeated tugging operations.

In total, 85 ships had been due to pass through the canal on Saturday including 24 ships that arrived after Ever Given was dislodged, the SCA said.

An SCA investigation began on

Wednesday into what caused the vessel to run aground in the canal and block the waterway for six days, the canal authority’s chairman, Osama Rabie, told the MBC Masr private TV.

“The investigation is going well and will take two more days, and then we will announce the results,” he added.