Archive

May 24, 2022

The owners of the Motor Vessel Joanna, Empire Bulkers Limited and Joanna Maritime Limited, will pay $2 million and plead guilty to violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, admitting to knowingly falsifying the ship’s Oil Record Book to conceal unlawful discharges of oil.  Modifications to the vessel’s oil content monitor had been made so that discharge samples from the oily water separator were diluted with fresh water, thereby leading the oil content monitor to report erroneous concentrations.  DOJ; USAO ED LA

September 23, 2021

Shipping company Diana Wilhelmsen Management Limited was ordered to pay $2 million following its admissions that it violated the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.  DWM admitted that its vessel, M/V Protefs, unlawfully discharged oily bilge water and knowingly kept a false oil record book.  DOJ; USAO ED LA

February 18, 2021

The owner of the vessel Kota Harum, Pacific International Lines (Private) Limited, and employees Maung Maung Soe and Peng Luo Hai, pleaded guilty to charges under the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and Clean Water Act related to the vessel's unlawful discharge of oily bilge water into Apra Harbor, Guam, and the failure to maintain complete and truthful oil record books.  The company will pay a $3 million criminal penalty and defendants are on probation.  DOJ

December 1, 2020

Singapore-based international shipping company Pacific Carriers Limited (PCL) was ordered to pay a fine of $12 million following its guilty plea to charges including its violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.  PCL admitted that its ship the M/V Pac Antares discharged oily bilge water, oil waste, oily garbage, and plastic, without using required pollution-prevention equipment or properly recording the discharges in the vessel’s oil record book or garbage record book.  Some oily waste discharges were made through a laundry sink which discharged directly overboard, and inspectors discovered a configuration of drums, flexible hoses and flanges that were used to bypass the vessel’s oily water separator.  In addition, PCL admitted that the ship stored oily waste in the duct keel in a manner that created a hazardous condition subject to reporting.  The problems were reported to Customs and Border Protection by a crewmember who walked off the ship when it arrived in North Carolina.  DOJ

September 5, 2019

Italian shipping company d'Amico Shipping Italia S.p.A. will pay $4 million following a guilty plea on charges that violated the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships by deliberately concealing that crew on its oil tanker the M/T Cielo di Milano intentionally bypassed pollution prevention equipment and discharged bilge water and oily waste from the vessel’s engine room through its sewage system into the sea while the ship was in U.S. waters.  The defendant falsified the vessel's Oil Record Book, made false statements to the Coast Guard during inspection, and destroyed the vessel's sounding log.  USAO NJ

June 3, 2019

Princess Cruise Lines Ltd. and its parent company Carnival Cruise Lines & plc will pay a $20 million criminal penalty for violating its probation resulting from a 2017 criminal proceeding in which the companies paid a $40 million penalty.  The companies were subject to ongoing compliance monitoring as a result of the earlier proceeding, and that monitoring detected numerous ongoing violations.  Defendants admitted to failing to implement an effective compliance program, seeking to evade their compliance obligations, falsifying records, and illegally discharging waste.  DOJ

November 27, 2018

Greek shipping companies Avin International LTD and Nicos I.V. Special Maritime Enterprises will pay a $4 million criminal fine for their actions in discharging oil in the ports of Houston and Port Arthur in violation of the Clean Water Act.  The discharges were not recorded in oil record books as required under MARPOL and the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.  DOJ

November 2, 2018

German shipping company MST Mineralien Schiffahrt Spedition und Transport GmbH was sentenced following its guilty plea related to deliberate pollution from one of its ships, the M/V Marguerita.  The company will pay a $3.2 million criminal fine for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and using falsified log books to conceal discharges of oily bilge waste in Portland, Maine. DOJ

May 24, 2018

Two Honolulu-based fishing companies, their managers, and vessel operators, agreed to pay collective penalties of more than $42,000 to settle claims related to the discharge of oily waste into ocean waters from two commercial fishing vessels; the companies and individuals also agreed to implement operational improvements and other compliance measures. USAO DHI

May 10, 2018

Japanese shipping company Nitta Kisen Kaisha Ltd. was convicted and sentenced for falsification of an Oil Record Book to cover-up intentional oil pollution from the Motor Vessel Atlantic Oasis. The company was ordered to pay a fine of $1 million. DOJ