Seafarer’s death in Columbia River reveals murky maritime oversight

A coalition of Filipino and maritime advocacy groups held the public remembrance March 27 on the University of Portland campus, more than six months after a fisherman found Meraña’s body floating in a Columbia River shipping channel. As they grieved together, listening to Filipino musicians perform, they also spoke of questions that remained unanswered surrounding Merana’s death and who bears responsibility.

“AJ’s death is arguably a product of negligence, so in addition to the why, we’d also like to know who will be held accountable?” Emma Martinez, a member of the Pacific Coast Coalition of Seafarers, wrote in an email.  

Like 10 million or so other Filipinos, Meraña left home seeking better job opportunities and higher wages. He found work aboard a bulk cargo ship owned by a Norwegian company, placing him under a patchwork system of offshore safety regulations under which it’s not always clear who is responsible for ensuring safe working conditions for these foreign seafarers.

The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office reported that on Sept. 7 the Coast Guard received a report of an overboard seafarer in the Columbia River from the ship MV Fermita. Six days later a fisherman spotted Meraña’s body in a shipping channel approximately 50 miles inland from where the river spills into the Pacific Ocean.

This story is part of Cascade PBS’s WA Workplace Watch, an investigative project covering worker safety and labor in Washington state.

Cowlitz County authorities ruled his death an accidental drowning based on a report from the U.S. Coast Guard that said the crew had been swimming when Meraña disappeared underwater. 

“The Coast Guard learned that the crew had gone for a swim and Meraña had jumped from an elevated position and landed awkwardly in the water,” the sheriff’s report stated. “He disappeared under the water and did not resurface.” 

Cowlitz County investigators closed the case within five days of finding Meraña’s body. Records indicated they did not independently interview any crew members from the ship. 

The Coast Guard has not answered questions from Cascade PBS about its investigation. It has also not responded to a Feb. 28 public records request for related documents. The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office’s public records officer said they cannot supply a copy of the Coast Guard report because they never received one. 

The coalition criticized the investigation as incomplete, arguing more needs to be known about how Meraña died and why the crew was allowed to swim in the Columbia River. 

“This is something that is highly discouraged for seafarers, especially in an active shipping canal,” Martinez wrote. “This was truly a preventable death — the risks were very clear.”

Meraña’s Facebook profile shows videos of him playing basketball, sharing birthday messages with friends and posting memes. Since his death, friends and family have posted dozens of messages, sharing photos and playful moments from his life. 

In one of his final posts, a photo shows Meraña posing behind a shopping cart loaded with grocery bags on what appears to be the deck of the bulk cargo carrier. 

As the coalition of Filipino and seafarer groups remembered him in a vigil, Meraña’s family gathered in the cemetery in the Philippines where they buried him just months before.

Meraña’s father attended the Portland memorial service virtually. Fredi Guerrero, a member of the Portland-area coalition, said the father credited the coalition for helping the family receive death benefits, which they said took more than two months to reach the family. 

Guerrero said the father also wonders why the captain let the crew swim when they did. Meraña’s family did not respond to interview requests from Cascade PBS.

Ryan Brazeau, an inspector with the International Transport Workers' Federation, similarly questioned why the crew would go swimming in the Columbia River. 

“For obvious safety reasons, seafarers should never be in the water,” Brazeau said. “On some ships, they do go swimming, but typically when the ship is at anchor in a warm destination.”

He said that in the case of a seafarer death, the Coast Guard typically conducts any investigation, often with involvement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

Maritime jurisdiction empowers the Coast Guard to enforce health and safety laws involving seamen while offshore. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration meanwhile oversees health, safety and labor standards for non-seamen. 

A 2024 Cascade PBS investigation found that maritime oversight structures can also create uncertainty for crews seeking labor protections in U.S. ports. In late 2023, two dozen Filipino fishermen spent three months stuck in the Westport Marina in Grays Harbor. Without visas, the men could not go ashore and relied on their employer for all basic supplies. Six of those fishermen are pursuing claims of abandonment and wage theft against their former employer. The company denies any wrongdoing.

The J.J. Ugland Companies, which owns the ship Meraña disappeared from, did not respond to requests for comments. The company recently came under scrutiny when South Korean authorities found a “large amount of cocaine” on board a different ship in early April.

Since Meraña’s death, the coalition of advocacy groups has asked the Consulate General of the Philippines in San Francisco to get involved. 

“They’ve told us nothing — if there is an investigation, if it started, if they plan on starting one,” said Martinez with the local seafarers coalition.

The Philippine government recently vowed to investigate another seafarer’s disappearance, which happened as his Panamanian-flagged ship sailed from Veracruz, Mexico, to Baltimore.

“It shows [that] they’re willing to, and are saying that they’re able to, and even, like, fulfill their responsibility,” Martinez said. “They should apply that to AJ as well.”