U.S. DOJ: Shipping Companies Fined $1.5M for Illegal Discharges
The German shipping companies Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG and Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG MS “Extum,” who owned and operated the cargo ship M/V BBC Magellan, pleaded guilty today to failure to maintain an accurate oil record book, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and tampering with witnesses by persuading them to provide false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard concerning a bypass hose on the vessel that was being used to discharge oil into the sea. The two companies were sentenced to pay a total of $1.25 million in fines and a $250,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to fund projects that enhance coastal habitats of the Gulf of Mexico and bolster priority fish and wildlife populations.
German Shipowner Invests in Fleet Rejuvenation
Leer, Germany, not to far from the river Ems entry into the North Sea, with its Institute of Maritime Studies, is the origin of a maritime trade association in the field of logistic, shipping companies, shipping, shipbuilding, carrying business and handling. Thus the city of Leer has grown, after the city of Hamburg, into the largest concentration of shipping companies according to the managed numbers of ships, with around 16 shipping companies operating more than 400 seagoing vessels from here. By its seaport, the city was characterized by trade for centuries.
Aker Yards to Deliver Combi Freighter to Briese
Aker Yards has sold a combi freighter to Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co, in Leer (Lower Saxony / Germany) to be delivered from Damen Shipyards Okean in the Ukraine, a joint venture between Aker Yards and Damen Shipyards Group. The value of the contract is approximately $24.9m. Delivery is scheduled in the fourth quarter of 2007. A first vessel of this type was delivered by the Okean shipyard in July 2006.
