A crew member of an oil tanker owned by a pair of international shipping companies provided evidence in April 2016 that the ship was illegally dumping waste into the water off Port Arthur, according to federal prosecutors in a statement.
What happened?
The video and photographs taken by the crewman of the M/T ETC Mena, a 809-feet long ocean-going tanker, eventually led to a guilty plea on Tuesday in Beaumont’s federal court by the ship’s owners – the Egyptian Tanker Company and Singapore-based Thome Ship Management, the prosecutors said.
Water contaminated by oily waste:
In March 2016, the ship illegally dumped bilge water into the Gulf of Mexico that had been contaminated with oil that leaked from the ship’s engine. Crew members also were instructed to throw plastic bags filled with metal and incinerator ash overboard. In neither case were the incidents logged into the ship’s official record as is required, officials said.
Separate payout for restoration efforts:
The companies will pay a $1.9 million penalty and pay for restoration efforts at three wildlife refuges located in the areas along the Gulf Coast where the ship made port stops.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice
