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

Tagged in: Criminal Proceedings, Environmental Fraud, Ocean Dumping,