Illegal Dumping
Shipping Company Fined and Banned for 3 Years
The US Department of Justice said that a foreign ship operator was fined $400,000 (and assessed a $100,000 community service payment) for violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) by failing to maintain an accurate oil record book. The company was also placed on probation for three years, during which time its ships will be banned from US ports and waters. The Department of Justice has requested the court to award half of the fine ($200,000) to the three crewmembers who reported the illegal dumping and falsified oil record book. Source: HK Law
Riverkeeper Commends Dumping Bill
Riverkeeper, a New York clean water advocate, commended the New York City Council for passing Int. 54-A, a bill substantially increasing penalties for illegal dumping in New York City Waters. The bill, passed unanimously by the City Council, creates a new civil penalty for dumping into the waterways where none currently exists, setting fines at not less than $1,500 or more than $10,000 for the first violation, and not less than $5,000 or more than $20,000 for each subsequent violation.
CSR Condemns Forced Detention of Seafarers
Douglas B. Stevenson, Esq., the Director of the Seamen's Church Institute's (SCI) Center for Seafarers' Rights, urged RADM Thomas Gilmore, Assistant Commandant of Marine Safety & Environmental Protections, to protect the human and legal rights of seafarers during investigations of environmental accidents. U.S. port chaplains recently reported several cases of forced detentions of seafarers to the Institute. "In one of the most troubling reports
Legal Beat: Criminal Enforcement in the Marine Industry: The Latest Trends
By Jeanne M. Grasso and Allison L. Fennell The Lay of the Land - or Sea In the past several years, federal prosecutors increasingly have devoted time and resources to pursuing vessel owners, operators, crewmembers, and shoreside employees who are involved in illegal discharges at sea. Discharges at sea have long been recognized as a serious threat to the marine environment and, as a result, there is a plethora of laws in the United States regulating discharges into waters of the
Captain of Korean Flagged Ship Sentenced
Hae Wan Yang, 54, of South Korea, was sentenced on Dec. 30 in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to two months of home confinement in the United States and two years of supervised release for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships by knowingly failing to maintain an accurate Garbage Record Book. Yang was the Captain of the M/V Pan Voyager a ship belonging to STX Pan Ocean Co., Ltd., a South Korean Shipping Company
U.S. DOJ: Environmental Crime Conviction
German Shipping Companies Convicted in Texas and Alaska for Environmental Crimes; Companies to Pay $1.2 Million for Covering up Marine Oil Pollution and Obstruction of Justice. WASHINGTON – Two German shipping companies pleaded guilty today in federal court in Houston to criminal charges that they concealed the illegal dumping of oil at sea from U.S. Coast Guard inspectors. Nimmrich & Prahm Bereederung and Nimmrich & Prahm Reedrei
Company to Pay $735,000 for Ocean Dumping Violations
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stated that a dredging company will pay $735,000 for ocean dumping violations off the coast of northern California. The company will pay a $450,000 EPA fine and pay NOAA $285,000 to fund projects to restore the marine environment. Evidence indicated that the company’s disposal vessels leaked or dumped dredged material over 200 times from 1999 through 2003 while en route to a designated deep ocean disposal site 55 miles off San Francisco.
Violation of Ocean Dumping Act Charged
The US Attorney for the District of Oregon issued a news release stating that a terminal operator has been charged with violation of the Ocean Dumping Act. It is alleged that the terminal operator had off-specification potash loaded on a freighter and dumped at sea in order to avoid the costs of proper disposal. The expected monetary penalty is $240,000. Source: HK Law
Irika Shipping $4M Penalty for Concealing Pollution
Irika Shipping S.A., a ship management corporation registered in Panama and doing business in Greece, pleaded guilty on July 8, 2010 before Maryland U.S. District Court Judge Frederick J. Motz, to felony obstruction of justice charges and violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships related to concealing deliberate vessel pollution from the M/V Iorana, a Greek flagged cargo ship that made port calls in Baltimore, Tacoma, Wash., and New Orleans.
BAE Alabama Wins Dredger Barge Contracts
BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards Alabama wins Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. contract to build dredging dump scows The announcement came at the christening of the American Phoenix, a 616-foot-long, 105-foot-wide chemical tanker that BAE built for owner Mid-Ocean Tanker Company LLC of South Norwalk, Conn., a joint venture between private equity firm Alterna Capital Partners and Mid-Ocean Marine, a shipping company also based in South Norwalk.
BAE Lays Keel on GLDD Dump Scow
BAE Systems recently held a keel laying ceremony in the construction of the second dump scow for Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company. It is the final vessel in the contract for two dump scows, which was signed in June 2012. When complete, both vessels will be used to support dredging operations in
Merchant Ships Fair Game in Nigerian Waters
US Government Consul-General, Jeffrey Hawkins, observes ineffectual Nigeria Government response to a growing incidence of piracy. The US envoy made his comment at the recently concluded Nigeria Maritime Expo (NIMAREX 2013) in Lagos. Acknowledging that Nigeria has enormous maritime potentials
British Envoy Expresses Concern Over Niger Delta Piracy
The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr Andrew Pocock, voices concern over increasing insecurity in the area, urges action. The diplomat made his remarks at the West African Maritime Security and Development Conference in Lagos, adding that Britain would continue to support security
AdvanFort President Addresses Ransom and Piracy
"The revelation this week that the owner of an Algerian cargo ship whose crew was held by Somali pirates paid them $2.6 million in ransom is yet another indication that the rewards these denizens reap for their illegal, life-threatening work remain a serious stumbling block to ending maritime
DOJ: Vessel Operator Admits Pollution
United States Attorney Donald J. Cazayoux, Jr., announced that, yesterday, CLEOPATRA SHIPPING AGENCY, LTD., a Greek vessel management company, pled guilty to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and was sentenced to pay a $300,000 fine and serve a three-year term of probation
US Coast Guard Cutter Intercepts Large Number of Haitian Immigrants
USCH Cutter 'Confidence' repatriates 219 Haitian migrants to Cap Haitien, Haiti. Watchstanders at the 7th Coast Guard District command center were notified of a sail freighter northwest of Great Inagua, Bahamas, with 131 Haitian migrants aboard and dispatched the 'Confidence' to the
BAE Systems Starts Construction on Dump
Scows for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company BAE Systems has begun construction on the first of two dump scows for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company. Employees and executives from both companies gathered yesterday for a ceremony to mark the start of construction for the first module
Training to Crackdown on Illegal Ship Discharges
The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) provides joint Interpol training to member-state represetatives. This year EMSA’s training and cooperation sector offered a new training course together with Interpol, the international police organization.
IMO's 'London Convention' Celebrates Anniversary
Key international marine environment protection convention celebrates 40 years of progress. The use of the world’s oceans as a dumping ground for harmful wastes has been systematically regulated and reduced under the terms of an international convention that, this year
Sea Fertilization Objection by IMO Convention Signatories
Parties to international dumping treaties express concern about reported offshore iron fertilization by salmon fishing industry. Parties to the international treaties which regulate the dumping of wastes and other matter at sea have issued a statement of concern regarding the deliberate ocean
Jailed Pirates Fired RPG's at Tanker 'For Fun' Said Defence
The Supreme Court of the Seychelles recently found 15 Somalis guilty of piracy and jailed them for up to 18 years. Judge Mohan Burhan rejected their defence that they were fishing and having fun as they fired rockets at a tanker in the Arabian Sea and that weapons – including assault
Unusually, Somalia Legally Detains Ship
Somali authorities have seized a North Korean vessel for allegedly dumping cement off the country's coast, & will prosecute. A North Korean-flagged ship and its crew were captured by the quasi-government of Puntland near the coast of the Puntland port city of Bossaso while discharging some 5
BAE Systems Lays Keel for Dump Scow
BAE Systems has completed another milestone in the construction of the first of two dump scows for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company. When complete, both vessels will be used to support dredging operations in the United States. Employees and executives from both companies recently gathered
Container Ship Owner Hammered for Pollution Misdeeds
DC Federal Court plea agreement requires Singapore-based Pacific International Lines, to pay US$2.2-million. The offenses relate to the operation of the company's container shilp M/V Southern Lily 2 in June 2012. The company previously pleaded guilty to three felony charges that it made
Lake Michigan Coal-burning Ferry: Future Questioned
The EPA permit that has long allowed the SS Badger to dump coal ash into the lake is now under review. On the shores of Lake Michigan, the tiny town of Ludington, Mich., is home port to the last coal-fired ferry in the U.S. The SS Badger has been making trips across the lake to Manitowoc, Wis