As part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, Congress enacted into law the Safer Seas Act (SSA) in December 2022. The bill was originally introduced as H.R. 6866 on February 28, 2022, by Rep. Peter DeFazio. As the maritime industry is well aware (or should be), the SSA responded to the September 28, 2021 anonymous blog post of "Midshipman X" in which a US Merchant Marine Academy cadet shared her story of sexual assault aboard a US-flagged ship at sea during her Sea Year training. Continue reading >