Horizon shipmaster, sacked after whistleblowing, wins $1m damages

A landmark court case has put safety before spin, after a judge awarded a whistleblowing ship’s captain $1 million in damages. Capt John Loftus, a master at Horizon Lines reported safety violations to both the US Coast Guard and the American Bureau of Shipping, but was abruptly removed from his post by Horizon, despite safeguards offered to seafaring whistleblowers under the Seaman’s Protection Act.