SHIPBUILDING

EXPORTS BUOY U.S. YARDS

LOGISTICS

FMC LEVELS THE 

PLAYING FIELD

RISK

DEFINING (& MITIGATING)

THE HUMAN ELEMENT

TECHNOLOGY

THE IMPACT OF ELECTRONICS 

Jerry Crooks, Shell Trading (U.S.) 

Company, on investing to instill 

excellence in safety 

SHELL

Q3 2016 | Volume 6, Issue 3

www.MaritimeLogisticsProfessional.com
Reprinted with Permission from the Q3 2016 edition of Maritime Logistics Professional 

www.MaritimeLogisticsProfessional.com

INSIGHTS

A Primer:

T o promote safety at sea, Congress authorized the 

U.S. Coast Guard to suspend or revoke Merchant 

Mariner Credentials for acts of incompetence, 

misconduct, negligence, violations of law or regulation, 

and use of dangerous drugs. The Coast Guard initiates 

400-600 suspension and revocation (S&R) cases each 

year. Full understanding of the suspension and revocation (S&R) process should therefore be more than a casual requirement for the working professional mariner. 

Suspending or revoking Credentials is a formal, administrative process concerning a mariner’s Credential, 

the right to hold that Credential, and the right to serve 

under that Credential. Because a mariner’s Credential 

is a property right, the Constitution, the Administrative 

Procedure Act, and Coast Guard regulations provide due 

process protections when the government proposes suspending or revoking that Credential. 

To that end, the S&R hearing process is very similar 

to a civil trial in state or federal court without a jury 

but with streamlined discovery rules to ensure a just, 

speedy, and inexpensive determination. The hearing is 

not a criminal trial and the Administrative Law Judge 

(ALJ) cannot sentence a mariner to incarceration or impose a fine. Rather, these administrative proceedings 

are remedial in nature and are intended to help maintain 

standards for competence and conduct essential to the 

promotion of safety at sea.

Administrative Law Judges

The Coast Guard is one of 30 federal agencies administering laws requiring adjudication be conducted by 

Administrative Law Judges appointed under 5 U.S.C. § 

3105, which is part of the Administrative Procedure Act. 

This is called formal adjudication. There are approximately 1,700 Administrative Law Judges in the federal 

government with most being in the Social Security Administration, Medicare Appeals, and the Department of 

Labor. The Coast Guard is currently authorized 6 ALJs 

and one Chief Judge. The ALJs are located in New York, 

Baltimore, New Orleans, Galveston, Alameda, and Seattle. The Chief Judge is located at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC. 

ALJs are required to follow the law and case precedent 

as well as their own agency’s regulations and appeal decisions. Within that framework, ALJs have decisional 

independence which enables t hem to review the evidence, find facts, and issue decisions free from pressures 

of the parties or officials within the agency. To ensure 

decisional independence, the Office of Personnel Management’s regulations prohibit agencies, including the 

Coast Guard, from controlling ALJ’s salaries, conducting performance evaluations on them, or providing monetary/honorary awards to ALJ’s. 

Pursuant to Memorandum of Agreement, Coast Guard 

ALJs also adjudicate cases for agency components 

of the Department of Homeland Security such as the 

Transportation Security Administration. As time and 

availability permit, Coast Guard ALJs also adjudicate 

cases for other agencies on a reimbursable basis in support of the Office of Personnel Management’s ALJ Loan 

Program. For example, Coast Guard Judges assisted the 

Special Master of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund 

in adjudicating claims arising from the September 11, 

2001 terrorist attacks. 

The Complaint

A Coast Guard Investigating Officer initiates S&R 

proceedings by filing a Complaint with the ALJ Docketing Center and serving it on the mariner who is the 

subject of the Complaint. That mariner is referred to as 

the Respondent. The Complaint will allege the type of 

case, the statute or regulation claimed to be violated, 

the pertinent alleged facts, and the proposed order of 

suspension or revocation; that is, the proposed sanction. 

By Walter J. Brudzinski 
Reprinted with Permission from the Q3 2016 edition of Maritime Logistics Professional 

www.MaritimeLogisticsProfessional.com

The Complaint will also propose a place and date for 

hearing and advise Respondent of the right to be represented. Once a Complaint is filed and docketed, an ALJ 

is assigned to the case.

Right to Counsel

The Respondent has a right to be represented by an attorney or a duly authorized representative. The Respondent may also self-represent. Because these proceedings 

are administrative and not criminal in nature, the Coast 

Guard does not provide the Respondent with representation. A Respondent may retain an attorney at his or her 

own expense or look into obtaining representation from 

a legal services clinic. A Respondent may also seek assistance from a non-attorney who has some expertise in 

S&R proceedings. 

If the Respondent is without means to retain an attorney, free legal representation may be available. The 

Coast Guard’s Office of the Chief Administrative Law 

Judge website at http://www.uscg.mil/alj contains a list 

of attorneys that may be available to represent respondents at no cost or at reduced cost if the mariner cannot 

afford an attorney. Respondents unable to afford attorney representation are urged to consult that website.

The Answer

After the Investigating Officer files the Complaint, the 

Respondent must file a written Answer within 20 days 

of being served. In the Answer, the Respondent must admit or deny each numbered paragraph in the Complaint. 

If the Answer states the Respondent lacks sufficient 

knowledge or information to admit or deny a particular numbered paragraph, it denies that paragraph. If the 

Answer does not otherwise specifically deny a particular numbered paragraph, it admits that paragraph. If the 

Respondent fails to file an Answer within 20 days the 

Respondent risks being found in Default. 

Being found in default constitutes an admission of all 

facts alleged in the Complaint and a waiver of the right 

to a hearing. In other words, if the Respondent does not 

file an Answer, he or she risks having the proposed sanction implemented upon application of the Investigating 

Officer and Order of the Administrative Law Judge. 

The Hearing

If the Respondent does not admit to the allegations and 

proposed sanction the case will proceed to hearing. In 

anticipation of the hearing, parties will routinely participate in a pre-hearing teleconference with the Administrative Law Judge. During the teleconference, the ALJ 

will set the date and place of hearing as well as dates for 

the exchange of exhibit and witness lists, additional discovery, motions, and other matters that may arise. The 

ALJ will ordinarily issue orders deciding motions prior 

to the hearing and the case will then proceed to hearing 

unless the parties reach a settlement. 

Hearings typically last for one day or less and some 

can last for several days. Present at the hearing is a court 

reporter who records and transcribes all testimony and 

statements. At the beginning of the hearing, the parties 

may give an opening statement. Opening statements are 

an opportunity for the parties to tell the ALJ what the 

evidence will show. The Coast Guard’s representative, 

who ordinarily is an attorney will then call witnesses and 

introduce exhibits. 

The Coast Guard presents its evidence first because it 

has the burden to prove the allegations in the Complaint 

by the preponderance of the evidence; that is, it is more 

likely than not that the allegations in the Complaint are 

true. The Respondent or the Respondent’s representative 

will have an opportunity to question the Coast Guard’s 

witnesses. The ALJ will rule on any questions whether 

evidence ought to be admitted for consideration. 

Once the Coast Guard has called all of its witnesses 

Brudzin

s

k

i

U.S. Coast Guard Suspension and 

Revocation of Merchant Mariner Credentials
Reprinted with Permission from the Q3 2016 edition of Maritime Logistics Professional 

www.MaritimeLogisticsProfessional.com

Editor’s Note 

The statutory authority for S&R proceedings is found at 46 

U.S.C. §§ 7701-7705. S&R procedural regulations are found at 

33 C.F.R. Part 20. Substantive S&R regulations are found at 46 

C.F.R. Part 5 and Part 16 (drug testing requirements). National 

Transportation Safety Board Rules are found at 49 C.F.R. Part 

825. These regulations may be accessed at http://www.ecfr.

gov. General information on S&R as well as ALJ decisions, 

Commandant Decisions on Appeal, and NTSB decisions, among 

other things, can be found at http://www.uscg.mil/alj. 

The Author 

Walter J. Brudzinski is the Chief 

Administrative Law Judge, U S. Coast 

Guard, BA, Univ. of Maryland, JD, Geo. 

Mason Univ. School of Law, MJS and 

Ph.D., Univ. of Nevada. The opinions in 

this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect 

the official policy of the Commandant of the Coast Guard. 

and introduced all of its exhibits, the Respondent or the 

Respondent’s attorney will have the opportunity to call 

witnesses and introduce exhibits. The Coast Guard representative will have the opportunity to cross-examine 

and will also have the opportunity to rebut Respondent’s 

evidence in response to any new matters the Respondent’s evidence raises.

The Decision & the Appeal Process

The Coast Guard and Respondent have the right to 

submit closing briefs as well as proposed findings of 

fact and conclusions of law after the court reporter has 

transcribed the proceedings and the transcript is made 

available to them. If the parties choose to waive their 

rights to submit proposed findings and conclusions the 

ALJ may, under appropriate circumstances, render the 

decision orally from the bench. Otherwise, once closing 

briefs and proposed findings and conclusions are submitted to the ALJ, the record is closed. The ALJ will 

then carefully review the evidence presented by both 

parties and prepare the decision and order with findings 

of fact, analysis, and conclusions of law. 

If the Coast Guard proves its case, the ALJ will prepare an order imposing an appropriate sanction; that is, 

admonition, suspension with or without probation, or revocation. If the Coast Guard does not prove its case, the 

ALJ will issue an order dismissing the proceeding with 

or without prejudice to re-file. 

Assuming the case against the mariner is not otherwise 

settled and eventually proceeds to a full evidentiary hearing, the ALJ will hear the evidence and issue a decision 

and order. The mariner can appeal that decision and order 

to the Commandant of the Coast Guard. The Commandant’s decision may be appealed to the National Transportation Safety Board. The Board’s decision can be appealed to the appropriate U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals 

and ultimately to the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Conclusion

Congress established S&R proceedings to promote 

safety at sea. These proceedings are not penal in nature; 

that is, they do not constitute punishment. Rather, they 

are remedial to help maintain standards for competence 

and conduct essential to the promotion of safety at sea. 

Because a Merchant Mariner’s Credential is a property right, a mariner cannot be deprived of that property 

without due process of law as guaranteed by the Constitution, the Administrative Procedure Act, and Coast 

Guard regulations.