US court charges for illegal dumping of oil

As stated in court documents, the US Coast Guard boarded the MV Susan K after receiving a tip from another crew member. International law requires that cargo vessels dispose of oil using an oil water separator (OWS) or at shore facilities and record the disposal in an oil record book.

According to the plea agreement, the chief engineer and crew members disposed of oily bilge waste water into the ocean by using a hose that bypassed the vessel’s OWS and recorded inaccurate data to conceal the dumping from the Coast Guard when entering ports in Alaska and Houston.

Ignacia S Moreno, assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, said: “Illegal discharges of oil at sea by commercial shippers are too common practice, and this sentence shows that there are serious consequences for it.”

The shipping companies will pay a US $1.2m criminal penalty and will be prohibited from entering US ports or waters for five years as a term of probation.

US $200,000 of the criminal penalty will go to the National Marine Sanctuaries Fund as a community service payment to conduct vital monitoring, research and restoration projects in and around the Gulf of Mexico.