A seafaring engineer's thoughts on the tragic Baltimore Port incident

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Roland "Rex" Rexha

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Secretary-Treasurer for the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (MEBA), Roland “Rex” Rexha, joined America’s Work Force Union Podcast to give a seagoing engineers’ perspective on the Francis Scott Key Bridge incident in the Baltimore Harbor and potential maritime reforms that could help protect workers and residents around ports.

Rexha explained that MEBA represents the officers on American vessels and noted that the Dali, the ship that struck the bridge, was an international vessel. He did not want to speculate on potential causes for the incident and will wait for the full report by the National Transportation Safety Board on the Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster. However, Rexha believes there are issues on foreign-flagged ships, in particular with how workers are treated and not given the proper resources to do their jobs.

He said that since the crew members of the Dali are foreigners and have no passports to enter the U.S., they are confined to the vessel. While the 22 mariners onboard are receiving some aid and other resources, they must remain on the vessel until it can float or they find some other way to move them. The ship will likely be stuck in the harbor for another month until the bridge is moved off the ship and the vessel can float, Rexha said.

According to Rexha, about 98 percent of the world’s cargo is moved on foreign vessels, with American vessels making up the other 2 percent. Foreign merchant marines, he said, are cutting corners on safety and the number of crew members on vessels. He pointed out that unions such as MEBA want to be proactive and reform the industry before more deadly disasters occur.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more about issues facing the maritime industry:

America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

A seafaring engineer's thoughts on the tragic Baltimore Port incident

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