Pollution Control

Two More Ship Engineers Plead Guilty

Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Paula D. Silsby, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maine, announced that late yesterday two chief engineers for a freighter pled guilty for their role in concealing the overboard dumping of waste oil from the M/V Kent Navigator and using false log books designed to deceive the U.S. Coast Guard. The defendants, Chief Engineers Felipe B. Arcolas and Alfredo D. Lozada, worked aboard the Kent Navigator, which is owned and managed by Petraia Maritime Ltd. The government’s investigation began when the U.S. Coast Guard received an anonymous tip that a vessel bound for Portland was illegally discharging its waste oil and its bilges while at sea. MARPOL, which is a treaty ratified by the United States, and U.S. law limit the oil content of discharges from ships to not more than 15 parts per million. Oil pollution control equipment, called an Oil Water Separator, is equipment required by these laws that, when operated correctly, will prevent discharges of oil in excess of 15 parts per million. The Coast Guard inspected the Kent Navigator when it entered the port and found oily residue in piping that led to overboard discharge valves, and oil pollution control equipment that was inoperable

Polluter Receives Jail Sentence

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a press release stating that a Seattle area marine construction company owner was sentenced to six months imprisonment and one year of supervised release after he was convicted for failing to appear at his earlier trial for violating the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. A tug owned by his company sank in Puget Sound in 1995, spilling oil. Evidence indicated that the owner knowingly failed to maintain the vessel.

Coast Guard and Anti-Pollution Vessels from Rolls-Royce

More and more authorities are specifying Rolls-Royce ship designs and equipment for coastguard and anti-pollution vessels. Maritime states are increasingly aware of threats to their coastlines and exclusive economic zones (EEZ). The nature and seriousness of the threats varies from state to state. They may include fisheries control and prevention of illegal fishing, emergency towing of ships with engine or steering failure which represent a pollution hazard if they drift ashore

Towing Company to Pay $10M for Spill

The U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts issued a Press Release stating the Bouchard Transportation Co. was sentenced to pay a $10 million fine in connection with the oil spill in Buzzards Bay on April 27, 2003. A loaded tank barge being towed by a company tug grounded while outside the channel. The tug and barge were outside the channel because the mate on duty had left the pilothouse unmanned. The company was aware of repeated concerns raised about the mate’s

Snyder Promoted to Manager of Operations at MPC

Gerald Snyder, formerly Emergency Response Coordinator at Detroit-based Marine Pollution Control Corp. (MPC), has been promoted to manager of operations. In his new position, Snyder will manage daily scheduling and operations for MPC’s Detroit office, and will assume additional responsibilities including assisting with assessments of human resource requirements and new equipment procurement planning, streamlining of operations functions, and related business activities.

Guilty Plea, Concealing Vessel Pollution

Panagiotis Stamatakis, the chief engineer on the Cyprus-flagged M/V Myron N, and the second engineer, Dimitrios Papadakis, both citizens of Greece, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Trenton, N.J., to using falsified records that concealed improper discharges of untreated bilge waste from the cargo ship, the Justice Department announced. District Court Judge Peter G. Sheridan for the District of New Jersey scheduled sentencing for Sept. 8, 2009

Matson Fined $3M For Bilge Violation

Matson Navigation Co. will pay $3 million in fines after admitting it illegally dumped bilge water that may have been contaminated with waste oil, the U.S. Attorney in Seattle said. San Francisco-based Matson, a unit of Honolulu-based Alexander & Baldwin Inc. specializing in moving cargo between the U.S. West Coast and Hawaii, will also be placed on probation for three years, U.S. Attorney Kate Pflaumer said in a release

Celebrity Cruises Garners Environmental Protection Award

Celebrity Cruises' Century, Galaxy and Mercury have today been awarded Lloyd's Register's Environmental Protection descriptive note. The 70,000-gt Century; 76,000-gt Galaxy; and 76,000-gt Mercury are the first ships to be assigned EP descriptive notes. The award recognizes Celebrity Cruises' compliance with Lloyd's Register's Provisional Rules for Environmental Protection. All vessels underwent a comprehensive process of plan appraisal

Wrecks of the World II: Evaluating and Addressing Potential Underwater Threats

Conference, June 6-7, 2011 International Wreck and Removal Sector Speakers to Converge at WOW Conference Next Week   Delegates and speakers from around the globe will converge on the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) in the Washington, DC area Linthicum Heights, MD) US to participate in the second Wrecks of the World conference being held June 6-7, 2011. The American Salvage Association (ASA) and the North American Marine Environmental Protection

ASRY Builds Four New Shipyard Tugs

While Bahrain’s Arab Shipbuilding & Repair Yard Co (ASRY) is an established power in the ship repair business, it had traditionally not engaged in the business of ship and boat building. “The very simple answer, really, is that we have found there is more money to be made repairing ships than building them,” said Chris Potter, Chief Executive Officer, ASRY. ASRY is, however, capable, and is building a series of four new tugs for itself on its large slipways