Company Settles California Spill Case For $9 M

Company Settles California Spill Case For $9 M Privately-owned company Pearl Shipping has agreed to pay $9.4 million in compensation for an engine fuel spill from one of its tankers off California last year, according to company officials. Compensation would be made to the State of California and the United States for any environmental damage and expenses arising from the 3,000 gallon spill from the tanker Command on Sept. 26,1998, it said. Pending charges against the Pearl Shipping, which owns the 60,070 dwt Command, had been dropped, the company added. The Captain of the vessel had pleaded guilty to negligence regarding the spill. Nicos Peraticos, Greek shipowning chairman of Pearl Shipping parent company Pegasus Shipping, said the companies had not been able to find forensic evidence linking the bunker fuel to the Command. But the Captain of the vessel had admitted that a flexible hose had become disconnected while a transfer of bunker oil had been underway. Companies within the Pegasus group had re-examined all safety and environment-related operational procedures since the incident, Peraticos said.