On July 12, a Singaporean shipping company was fined $1 million fine and serve a two-year probation period for charges on oil tank pollution.
What happened?
The Singaporean shipping company ‘Hai Soon Ship Management’ was ordered to cough a fine of $1 million and serve a two-year year probation period for failing to maintain an accurate oil record book and making false statements concerning the illegal dumping of oil contaminated bilge water at sea.
Illegal dumping
In October 2017, the chief engineer of the vessel, along with other engine room staff, constructed a hose in the engine room to bypass the ship’s pollution prevention equipment, including its oil water separator, and pump oily waste directly overboard.
The discharge were not recorded in the ship’s oil record book, as required by the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, and the chief engineer made false entries in the oil record book to make it appear that the discharges had been routed through the oil water separator.
Investigation launched
Following the discovery of falsified records, the The case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ken Sorenson and Amalia Fenton.
Found guilty
During a routine inspection, the company was found to have forged the record and pleaded guilty for the charges. The fine and sentence were handed over to the company by U.S. District Court Judge Helen Gillmor sentenced the company.
U.S. Attorney Kenji Price said in a statement, “The marine environment that surrounds the Hawaiian Islands is unique, and part of the Islands’ natural beauty. This office will continue to work with the U.S. Coast Guard and use every tool at its disposal to bring to justice those who violate the law by polluting the sea”.
As a result of the plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Hai Soon’s vessels operating in U.S. waters will be required to comply with an environmental compliance plan that provides for regular inspections under the supervision of an independent auditor.
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Source: The Business Journals
