Two Greek Shipping Companies, Engineers Convicted in ‘Magic Pipe’ Pollution Case

MV Ocean Hope. Photo: MarineTraffic/Trevor Powell

A federal jury in Greenville, North Carolina, has convicted Oceanic Illsabe Limited, Oceanfleet Shipping Limited and two of their employees of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), obstruction of justice, false statements, witness tampering and conspiracy, the U.S. Justice Dept. has announced. 

Oceanic Illsabe Limited is the owner of the MV Ocean Hope, a large cargo vessel that was responsible for dumping tons of oily waste into the Pacific Ocean last year.  Oceanfleet Shipping Limited was the managing operator of the vessel. Both companies operate out of Greece. Also convicted at trial were two senior engineering officers who worked aboard the vessel, Rustico Ignacio and Cassius Samson.  The jury convicted on each of the nine counts in the indictment.

According to evidence presented in court, in June 2015 the Ocean Hope discharged around ten metric tons of sludge into the ocean.  The vessel was also regularly pumping contaminated water directly overboard.  None of these discharges were disclosed as required under international and U.S. law.

“Our office was pleased to partner with the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division in this significant case,” said U.S. Attorney John Stuart Bruce.  “We will continue to vigorously enforce federal laws designed to prevent the pollution of the world’s oceans.”

“While the vast majority of vessel owners, operators, and crews who do business in the United States follow our environmental laws, every year, a few unscrupulous commercial mariners obstruct justice in an attempt to hide from the Coast Guard the intentional discharge of large quantities of pollutants into the oceans,” said Rear Admiral Meredith Austin, commander of the Fifth Coast Guard District.  “Coast Guard Marine Inspectors and the Coast Guard Investigative Service, in concert with the Department of Justice, will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who do this.”

The evidence presented during the nine-day trial demonstrated that the companies were aware that the ship had not offloaded any oil sludge from the vessel since September 2014 and that the ship rarely used its oil-water separator. Instead, the vessel’s second engineer, Samson, ordered crewmembers to connect what is known in the industry as a “magic pipe” to bypass the vessel’s oil-water separator and pump oil sludge overboard.  Crewmembers were also ordered to pump oily water from the vessel’s bilges directly into the ocean up to several times per week.  The dumping occurred with the knowledge and approval of the ship’s chief engineer, Ignacio.  Finally, the engineers used a tank designated for oily wastes to store diesel fuel for sale on the black market.

Upon arriving at the Port of Wilmington, Oceanic, Oceanfleet, Ignacio and Samson attempted to hide these discharges by presenting a false and fictitious oil record book to U.S. Coast Guard inspectors. When inspectors uncovered evidence of dumping, the defendants ordered lower-level crewmembers to lie to Coast Guard personnel. Samson also made several false statements to a Coast Guard inspector regarding the bypass of the oil-water separator.

At the conclusion of trial, defendants Oceanic and Oceanfleet were convicted of one count of conspiracy, one count of violating APPS, two counts of obstruction of justice, one count of false statements and four counts of witness tampering.  Ignacio was convicted of one count of conspiracy, one count of violating APPS, one count of obstruction of justice and two counts of witness tampering. Samson was convicted of one count of conspiracy, one count of violating APPS, two counts of obstruction of justice, one count of false statements and three counts of witness tampering.

The companies could be fined up to $500,000 per count, in addition to other possible penalties. Ignacio and Samson face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the obstruction of justice charges.

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