A shipping company based in Monaco was fined more than $2 million and one of its employee was convicted on charges of causing pollution by a tanker.
What happened?
The company Sea World Management & Trading Inc. and one of its employees identified as Edmon Fajardo, master of the vessel ‘Sea Faith’ was convicted of maintaining false and incomplete records related to the discharge of oil and garbage from a tanker operating off the coast of Texas.
Illegal dumping of oily waste
The master and the company were guilty of illegally dumping oil cargo residues and machinery space bilge water from the vessel directly into the ocean.
According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, “The discharges were made without the use of required pollution prevention equipment, and both the company and Fajardo admitted that the discharges were not recorded in the vessel’s Oil Record Book, as required.
Prosecutors said Fajardo ordered crew members to illegally discharge oily waste on five separate occasions between March 10 and March 18. The discharges bypassed the tanker’s oil discharge monitoring equipment and were made while the vessel was in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, according to the release”.
Guilty of charges
The company and Fajardo admitted that he also ordered crew members to throw plastics, empty steel drums, oily rags, batteries and empty paint cans overboard and into the ocean and none of those discharges were recorded.
The company was fined $2.25 million and will serve a three-year probation period during which all of its vessels doing business in U.S. ports must implement a “robust” Environmental Compliance Plan.
Fajardo was sentenced to six months in federal the prison and will be on two years of supervised release afterward. He must also pay a $2,000 fine.
The cases was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, and Environmental Protection Agency-Criminal Investigation Division.
Disclaimer: This video is intended for informational purpose only. This may not be construed as a news item or advice of any sort. Please consult the experts in that field for the authenticity of the presentations.
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Source: Caller
