The seven-count indictment was handed down Tuesday to Sanford Ltd., a New Zealand based company that operates fishing vessels delivering to American Samoa.  Prosecutors allege that one of the company’s vessels, the F/V San Nikunau, routinely discharged oily bilge waste directly into the sea during since at least 2007, a direct violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.  Investigators also allege the company failed to accurately maintain an oil record book and presented false documents to Coast Guard inspectors.

If convicted, Sanford Ltd. could be fined up to $500,000 per count.   The indictment also seeks payment of more than $24 million for proceeds the company made as a result of the criminal conduct.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and by the Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice.

In June, Greek ship operator Noka Shipping Company was found guilty of similar charges and was ordered to pay $900,000.

In February 2011, Cardiff Marine Inc., who owns the Liberian-flagged cargo ship, Capitola, was found guilty and sentence to pay $2.4 million for obstructing a Coast Guard examination and violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships in a “magic pipe” pollution case.  In that case, the Capitola’s chief engineer was sentenced to six month imprisonment for his role in the crime.

“The inspection and investigation is a responsibility that we share with other federal, state and local agencies and requires a commitment to environmental stewardship,” said Capt. Mark O’Malley of Coast Guard Sector Baltimore regaring the Capitola case. “The oceans are treasured public resources. The Coast Guard will continue to aggressively pursue and penalize polluters to reinforce that oceans are not dumping grounds or spillways for any entity.”

The sentencing is in connection to the Epps owned and operated M/V Carib Vision, a commercial ship that was engaged in the transportation of molasses throughout the Caribbean region.   On Nov. 6, 2010, a Coast Guard inspection of the vessel in the port of San Juan, P.R. revealed that the vessel’s Oil Water Separator and other pollution prevention equipment was inoperable. The investigation revealed that prior to Nov. 6, 2010, the crew of the vessel used the emergency bilge discharge system to dump its oily waste directly overboard and failed to record such discharges in the vessel’s Oil Record Book.

“This sentence puts the international shipping industry on notice that there are serious consequences for violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and making false statements to the United States Coast Guard,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.  “For its criminal violations of the law, Epps will pay a significant criminal penalty, serve five years of probation, institute an environmental compliance plan designed to prevent further violations, and will be subject to independent monitoring.  Epps also will fund projects to protect coral reefs in Puerto Rico.”

The $700,000 penalty includes a $100,000 payment towards community service projects to rehabilitate and protect coral reefs in Guanica Bay, Puerto Rico.   In addition, the company was placed on five years of supervised probation and will have to implement a comprehensive Environmental Compliance Plan to continuously monitor and evaluate pollution prevention from any ship it owns or operates.

Via DOJ

Noka Shipping Company Ltd., the operator of the M/V Florin, pleaded guilty to a violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships for failing to properly maintain an oil record book as required by federal and international law, as well as, a violation of the Ports and Waterways Safety Act, for failing to report a hazardous condition on board to include excessive amounts of oil in the vessel’s machinery spaces and bilges, excessive oil leaks on the vessel’s main engine and generators, an authorized oil drainage system for the engine room and oil in the vessel’s fire suppression system.

At trial, it was proven that the M/V Tanabata had a removable bypass pipe or “magic pipe” that was used to discharge oily waste without the use of an oily-water separator, a required pollution control devise. The discharges were, however, falsely recorded as having been processed through the separator in the ship’s oil record book, a required log regularly inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard. An engineer testified that the defendant referred to the bypass pipe as the “illegal pipe.” It was also shown during trial that the pipe was hidden when the ship was in port so that it would not be discovered by the Coast Guard.

Sentencing has been set for Jan. 10, 2008, before Judge William N. Nickerson. Humphries faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.

The M/V Tanabata was operated by Pacific Gulf Marine, Inc. (PGM). PGM pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Jan. 27, 2007, to charges of making illegal discharges of oil-contaminated waste from each of four ships managed by the company. After learning of the investigation, PGM conducted and voluntarily disclosed the results of an internal investigation and cooperated with investigators and prosecutors. PGM was sentenced to pay a $1 million criminal fine and $500,000 in community service payments and to serve three years probation under the terms of an Environmental Compliance Program subject to court approval.

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