On August 11, the chief engineer and the first assistant engineer of an oil tanker pleaded guilty in federal court to charges that they dumped oil-polluted water in international waters and then covered it up.
The chief engineer, Giralamo Curatolo, 50, a Custonaci, Italy, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton.
Following him, first assistant engineer Danilo Maimone, 31, of Furci Siculo, Italy, pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct justice.
The tanker, owned by D’Amico Shipping Italia S.p.A., visited ports in Bayonne, Maryland and Florida multiple times, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
According to testimony in court, Curatolo, the highest-ranking crewman on board the M/T Cielo di Milano, oversaw the engine operations of the vessel between September, 2014 and January, 2015.
During that time, he admitted overseeing the pumping of oily waste from the engine room into a sewage holding tank. While at sea, Curatolo had the unfiltered waste discharged overboard, he admitted.
Curatolo also was responsible for keeping an Oil Record Book, a log regularly inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard. He admitted filing false entries as well as destroying the sounding log, a ledger of the contents of storage tanks on board.
Before the Coast Guard boarded the vessel for inspection, Curatolo admitted in court that he had the pump put in storage and instructed crew members to say nothing about the dumping.
Prosecutors did not say how much waste they believed was dumped into the ocean.
Maimone admitted concealing the discharge of oily waste as well as presenting a false Oil Record Book to the Coast Guard. He also admitted making false statements and instructing the crew to make false statements during a 2015 inspection, Fishman’s office said.
The charges to which they pleaded guilty both carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, Fishman’s office said.
Wigenton scheduled Curatolo’s and Maimone’s sentencing for Nov. 21.
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Source: NJ
