Military Sealift Command Captain Relinquished License to Avoid USCG Hearing
Maritime Legal Aid & Advocacy, a not-for-profit advocacy organization, is reporting that another captain has voluntarily relinquished his license, ending a Coast Guard administrative Suspension & Revocation proceeding stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct. The group notes it is the latest in a series of high-profile incidents since a U.S. Merchant Marine Academy midshipman known as Midshipman X came forward in 2021 recounting her experiences at sea.
The latest case stemmed from an incident on December 19, 2021, aboard the USNS Carson City. A Military Sealift Command (MSC) expeditionary fast transport ship, the vessel was docked in Brindisi, Italy. The vessel’s 1st Assistant Engineer, Elsie Dominguez, went ashore and admitted that she had become severely intoxicated and required assistance returning to the vessel. She has also said she believes she may have been drugged.
The vessel’s master, Yamil Sanchez Padilla, a mariner with 18 years of service with MSC, reportedly tried to call the engineer at least 14 times that night and texted her. When he returned to the vessel, it is alleged he used his MSC-issued master code to enter Dominquez’s staterooms, where she was asleep and incapacitated.
She filed charges saying that the master raped her, while he characterized the encounter in documents filed with the U.S. Coast Guard and MSC as consensual and attributed it to alcohol consumption.
The U.S. Coast Guard filed an administrative complaint under its Suspension and Revocation process under the charges that the engineer had been incapacitated and incapable of consenting. Under federal maritime law, the master faced revocation of his credentials if found guilty.
Maritime Legal Aid reports that within 15 days of being served, Sanchez Padilla signed a voluntary surrender agreement relinquishing his credentials. The Coast Guard accepted the voluntary surrender and withdrew the complaint.
Federal regulations allow a mariner facing Suspension and Revocation charges to surrender a credential instead of contesting the allegations.
The lawyers for the engineer report she also sought relief through the civil justice system, but that was dismissed under the rules of the Federal Employees Compensation Act. In addition, federal prosecutors declined to bring charges after criminal investigations by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
The Military Sealift Command also conducted an internal administrative review while the Coast Guard proceeding was pending. According to Maritime Legal Aid, the master requested that he be retained in federal service in a reduced role of Chief Mate, aka First Officer. He contended that it was a more appropriate penalty and said he would never again engage in such a relationship. MSC rejected this request in a decision published on March 8, 2025. They ruled that his conduct was incompatible with the role of master as the highest-ranking supervisory position on the vessel. The Military Sealift Command fired the Sanchez Padilla.
“This is becoming a recognizable pattern,” said maritime attorney Ryan Melogy of Justice4Mariners, who was representing Dominguez. “From the perspective of the accused mariner, the voluntary surrender in sexual assault cases is often the rational decision. It means there is no hearing, no testimony, and no formal findings on the record. The mariner is effectively out of the industry, but the underlying allegation is never adjudicated.”
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Lawyer Melogy highlights that through this course of action, the accused individual reduces the potential of criminal liability. He said USCG hearings could create the potential to re-expose the mariner to criminal liability even if the Department of Justice declines criminal prosecution.
Maritime Legal Aid highlights that the master involved in the Midshipman X case also chose to voluntarily surrender his credentials. Another master, who was accused of assaulting two midshipmen, also voluntarily relinquished his credentials, but he is still facing a criminal trial. The lawyers note that by ending the hearings, it denies the accuser the chance to confront the individual, and there is no public determination resolving the allegations.