Chief Engineer Sentenced
Carmelo Oria, a Spanish citizen who was the chief engineer on the Cyprus-flagged M/T Nautilus, was sentenced on May 6th in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts for maintaining inaccurate records that concealed a discharge of oil-contaminated water from the bilges of the M/T Nautilus, the Justice Department announced. Oria was sentenced to one month in prison, to be followed by supervised release for a term of two years and a $3,000 fine. Oria pleaded guilty on March 9, 2009, to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships based on his role in discharging oil-contaminated bilge water directly into the ocean from the M/T Nautilus and then failing to record the discharge in the ship's records. The government's investigation began in March 2008, when inspectors from the U.S.
Crew Rescued from Tanker
The U.K Coast Guard helicopter, India Juliet, from Lee on Solent airlifted ten crewmen from the tanker Ece which was in collision with a bulk carrier General Grot-Rowecki. Twelve other crewmen were also rescued from the ship by the St. Peterport RNLI lifeboat. All twenty-two of the crew have been taken to Guernsey. No serious injuries have been reported. India Juliet is now re-fueling in Guernsey and will be returning to the scene to assist as necessary. A French naval tug is now on scene assessing the situation with 'Ece'. Once the assessment is complete, plans will be made regarding the possible removal of the ship. The 8,003 ton chemical tanker, Ece is Marshall Islands registered and was reported to have damage with some of its cargo leaking.
