Korea's Doorae Shipping Fined $750K for Illegal Discharge
United States District Court Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi accepted the guilty plea of Doorae Shipping Co., LTD, a South Korean maritime operations company, and sentenced the company to pay a fine of $750,000, a community service payment of $200,000, and a term of two years of probation for the failure to maintain an accurate oil record book, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, and making false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard concerning the discharge of oil contaminated bilge water.
Iran Complete Aframax Tankship New-building
The first Iran-built Aframax oil tanker ship is complete and the vessel will be ready soon for delivery to Venezuela. The 113,000 dwt vessel has been built by Iran Marine Industrial Company, an affiliate of Sadra group of companies, and is 250 meters long, 44 meters wide, 21 meters high, with a service speed of 16 knots according to the FARS News Agency. The Aframax oil tanker was worth 52 million Euros and the builder considers it to be the first of its kind built in the Middle East. 

Despite the western embargos, Iran's maritime and shipbuilding industries have made huge progress in recent years says the agency. Source: FARS News Agency
Ship Operator Pleads Guilty, Concealing Pollution
A Panamanian company that operated a 40,000-ton oil tanker ship that regularly made calls in multiple ports in Texas pleaded guilty Oct. 21 in federal court in Houston for deliberately concealing pollution discharges from the ship directly into the sea, the Justice Department announced. Styga Compania Naviera S.A., the operator of the M/T Georgios M, pleaded guilty to three felony violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships for failing to properly maintain an oil record book as required by federal and international law. According to a plea agreement filed with U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the company has agreed to pay a $1m criminal fine along with a $250…
