Until the Sea Shall Free Them: Life, Death, and Survival in the Merchant Marine

In 1983, the Marine Electric, a reconditioned World War II vessel, was on a routine voyage thirty miles off the East coast of the United States when disaster struck. As the old coal carrier sank, chief mate Bob Cusick watched his crew succumb to the mountainous waves and sub-zero winds of the Atlantic. Of the thirty-four men aboard, Cusick was one of only three to survive. And he soon found himself facing the most critical decision of his life - whether to stand by the merchant marine officer’s unspoken code of silence, or to tell the truth about why his crew had been unnecessarily sacrificed at sea. Cusick chose to blow the whistle. Until the Sea Shall Free Them describes in compelling detail the wreck of the Marine Electric and the legal drama that unfolded in its wake. In a bitter lawsuit with owners of the ship, Cusick emerged victorious. His expose of government inaction led to vital reforms in the laws regarding the safety of ships, and his courageous stand places his among the unsung heroes of our time.