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Coast Guard Investigative Service News

16 Aug 2023

To Fight Sexual Assault and Harassment, Vessel Owners and Operators Must Comply with Heightened Reporting Requirements

© NAN / Adobe Stock

In response to increased awareness of the prevalence of sexual assault and sexual harassment (SASH) in the maritime industry — and following a widely reported account by a U.S. Merchant Marine Academy cadet of sexual assault aboard a U.S.-flagged ship during her Sea Year training — Congress enacted into law the Safer Seas Act (SSA) in December 2022.Intended as a direct effort to prevent and punish SASH, the SSA, among other provisions:Requires the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to revoke the license…

10 Jul 2023

Clipper Shipping Convicted of Dumping Violations in the US

Norwegian shipping company Clipper Shipping A.S. has been convicted of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships after admitting that oily bilge water was discharged from the motor tanker Clipper Saturn. As part of the plea, they acknowledged the discharges were omitted from the Oil Record Book. Immediately after the plea entered July 6, U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett ordered the company to pay a $1.5 million fine.On Sept. 27 and Oct. 1, 2021, the Clipper Saturn was anchored near Lome, Togo. The chief engineer at the time directed oily bilge water to be transferred into the vessel’s gray water tank and then discharged directly overboard under the cover of darkness.

12 Aug 2022

Bulk Carrier Operator and Chief Engineer Convicted for Dumping Offenses

Vessel operating company New Trade Ship Management S.A. and chief engineer Dennis Plasabas pleaded guilty in San Diego for maintaining false and incomplete records relating to the discharge of oily bilge water from the bulk carrier vessel Longshore.New Trade and Plasabas admitted that oily bilge water was illegally dumped from the Longshore directly into the ocean without being properly processed through required pollution prevention equipment. Oily bilge water typically contains oil contamination from the operation and cleaning of machinery on the vessel. The defendants also admitted that these illegal discharges were not recorded in the vessel’s oil record book as required by law.

15 Dec 2021

Four More Sentenced In Coast Guard Test-fixing Scheme

© LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS / Adobe Stock

Four more defendants have been sentenced for their roles in a test score-fixing scheme at a U.S. Coast Guard exam center, U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced.On December 8, Alonzo Williams, who plead guilty to being an intermediary in the scheme, was sentenced by the Honorable Barry W. Ashe to 40 months incarceration to be followed by three years of supervised release.Quang Tran, Harry Johson and James Carr, who each plead guilty to unlawfully receiving an officer-level mariner license…

08 Dec 2021

USCG Says Sexual Assault Offenders Will Be Held Accountable

© Alex Stemmers / Adobe Stock

The U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday issued a statement expressing its commitment to crack down on sexual assault offenders in the maritime industry.The statement comes as the Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) and lawmakers grappled with a raft of new sexual assault and harassment allegations revealed online by current and former cadets at America's federal and state maritime academies. The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) recently…

23 Nov 2021

Eight More Merchant Mariners Charged in Test-score Fixing Scheme

© Sebastian Duda / Adobe Stock

Another eight current and former merchant mariners have been indicted in a a test score-fixing scheme at a U.S. Coast Guard exam center in Louisiana.The defendants are charged with obtaining, and intending to use, officer-level licenses that were procured through falsified exam scores. The fraudulent scores were for examinations designed to test the mariners’ knowledge and training to safely operate under the authority of those licenses.The allegations stem from an investigation…

12 Oct 2021

Maersk Suspends Five Crew Members as it Investigates Alleged Sexual Assault

© Fotokon / Adobe Stock

The world's largest shipping firm A.P. Moller-Maersk has suspended five employees as part of an investigation into an alleged sexual assault on one of its ships run by a U.S. subsidiary, and said it was working closely with American authorities."We do everything we can to ensure that all of our workplace environments, including vessels, are a safe and welcoming workplace and we've launched a top to bottom investigation," said chief executive officer Bill Woodhour of Maersk Line, Limited in an emailed statement.Maersk Line, Limited (MLL) is a U.S.-based subsidiary of the A.P.

02 Dec 2020

Dive Boat Captain Charged in Fire that Killed 34

(Photo: VCFD via NTSB)

The captain of a dive boat that caught fire last year near Santa Cruz Island, resulting in 34 deaths, was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on 34 counts of seaman’s manslaughter.Jerry Nehl Boylan, of Santa Barbara, was named in the indictment by a federal grand jury that alleges Boylan, as the captain and master of the Santa Barbara-based Conception, “was responsible for the safety and security of the vessel, its crew, and its passengers.”The indictment alleges that Boylan caused the deaths of 33 passengers and one crewmember “by his misconduct…

11 Feb 2020

BSM Fined $1.75 Mln for Illegal Bilge Dumping

Operator Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (Singapore) on Monday pleaded guilty in federal court to maintaining false and incomplete records relating to the discharge of bilge waste from the tanker vessel Topaz Express, a felony violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.According to court documents and information presented in court, the defendants illegally dumped bilge waste from the Hong Kong-flagged Topaz Express directly into the ocean, without properly processing it through pollution prevention equipment. The defendants admitted that these illegal discharges were not recorded in the vessel’s oil record book as required by law.

18 Dec 2019

DOJ: F/V Owner & Operator Fined $1 mln

AdobeStock / © Renaschild

Fishing Vessel Owner and Operator Plead Guilty and Fined $1 Million for Discharging Oily Waste into the Coastal Waters of the United States Sea Harvest Inc., operator of the fishing vessels Enterprise and Pacific Capes, along with Fishing Vessel Enterprises Inc., the vessels’ owner, pleaded guilty today to violating the Clean Water Act for both knowing and negligent discharges of oily bilge water from the vessels’ engine rooms. The companies were sentenced to pay a $1 million criminal fine and serve a five-year term of probation.

23 Sep 2019

Coast Guard Arrests Illegal Charter Operator in Miami

Photo: Coast Guard

The Coast Guard terminated the voyage of the 45-foot pleasure craft, Breaking the Habit, with 12 passengers aboard Saturday near American Airlines Arena.Watchstanders determined that the vessel was operating illegally and in violation of a previous Captain of the Port order. This is the second time within a month the vessel was discovered operating as an illegal charter. A Coast Guard Station Miami Beach boarding team conducted the boarding of the pleasure craft and discovered the following violations:Violation of 46 C.F.R.

28 Aug 2019

Tanker Owner, Operator & Officers Guilty in ECA Crimes

File Image: AdobeStock / © 14KT Gold

The owner and operator will pay a total criminal fine of $3,000,000.00.U.S. Attorney Gretchen Shappert for the District of the Virgin Islands announced that IONIAN SHIPPING & TRADING CORP., LILY SHIPPING LTD., STAMATIOS ALEKIDIS, ATHANASIOS PITTAS and REY ESPULGAR have been convicted and sentenced for various pollution, recordkeeping, and obstruction of justice crimes on the Motor Tanker (“M/T”) Ocean Princess in St. Croix, U.S.V.I. The defendants’ conduct included using fuel that exceeded the maximum allowable sulfur concentration in the U.S. Caribbean Emission Control Area (“U.S.

26 Jun 2019

New Indictments in Table Rock Duck Boat Sinking

File Image: The Duck Boat salvage operation underway (CREDIT: USCG)

Two more employees of Ripley Entertainment, Inc. – the company that operated duck boat rides in Branson, Missouri – along with the captain of the duck boat that sank at Table Rock Lake last summer, resulting in the deaths of 17 people, have been indicted by a federal grand jury.Curtis P. Lanham, 36, of Galena, Missouri, and Charles V. Baltzell, 76, of Kirbyville, Missouri, were charged in a 47-count superseding indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Springfield on Thursday, June 13.

24 Jun 2019

17.5 Tons of Cocaine found on Containership

Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)-led multi-agency examination of shipping containers at the Philadelphia seaport netted a historic load of cocaine, the largest cocaine seizure in the 230-year history of U.S. Customs and CBP, with an estimated weight of over 17.5 tons and a street value of about $1.1 billion.During a midstream joint boarding Sunday night, CBP, HSI, and U.S. Coast Guard authorities detected anomalies while examining seven shipping containers aboard the MSC Gayane…

24 Jun 2019

Shipping Company Pleads Guilty to Environmental Laws

Portline Bulk International S.A. pleaded guilty in federal court in Charleston, South Carolina, to one count of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and one count of Obstruction. The charges stem from the falsification of the Oil Record Book onboard the M/V Achilleus, a Maltese-flagged ocean-going bulk carrier ship managed by Defendant Portline.From April 2017 to August 2018, senior members of the vessel’s engineering team oversaw and participated in the bypass of the ship’s Oil Water Separator utilizing a yellow plastic hose, referred to as a magic pipe. The ship’s Chief Engineer made a series of fake entries and key omissions in the Oil Record Book in order to conceal the illegal overboard discharges of oily bilge water. On Aug.

25 Apr 2019

Vessel Owner, C/E Indicted on Environmental Charges

Adobe Stock / Renaschild

A federal grand jury in Wilmington, Delaware, returned a six-count indictment today charging Chartworld Shipping Corporation, Nederland Shipping Corporation, and Chief Engineer Vasileios Mazarakis with failing to keep accurate pollution control records, falsifying records, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering, the Justice Department announced.The charges stem from the falsification of records and other acts designed to cover up from the Coast Guard the overboard discharges of oily mixtures and machinery space bilge water from the Bahamian-flagged cargo vessel…

19 Apr 2019

Shipping Firm Fined $4M for Pollution Violation

File Image: AdobeStock / © Renaschild

$1 Million Will Go to Projects that Support Cleanup of Marine Pollution, Preservation of Aquatic Life, and Restoration of Shorelines around Newark Bay.A shipping company based in Italy today admitted discharging oily waste and other pollutants into the sea and then lying about it, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito and Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark announced.The company, d’Amico Shipping Italia S.p.A., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court to an information charging it with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.

01 Mar 2019

USCG Slaps Illegal PV operator with Fine

Photo: U.S. Coast Guard

Representatives from Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Chicago announced that the owner of two recreational pleasure boats has been fined $80,000 for operating as an illegal passenger vessel business on Lake Michigan for at least the past two years.Robert Glick of Chicago, owner of the 35-foot boats Allora and Fun, was charged with violating three separate federal regulations for each boat while operating a business that involved transporting paying passengers.The fine represents…

05 Nov 2018

U.S. DOJ Announces Environmental Crimes Conviction

File Image / Adobestock © renaschild

German Shipping Operator Sentenced to Pay $3.2 Million for Obstruction of Justice and Falsifying Official Logs to Hide Deliberate Oil Pollution. The previously Convicted Company Committed Environmental Crimes While on Probation.A German shipping company, MST Mineralien Schiffahrt Spedition und Transport GmbH (MST), pleaded guilty and was sentenced today in Portland, Maine, for obstruction of justice and for maintaining false official records to conceal deliberate pollution from one of its ships, the M/V Marguerita, announced Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey B.

11 May 2018

US Fines Shipping Company $1 Mln for Pollution Crimes

A Japanese shipping company will have to pay $1 million after being convicted and sentenced for obstruction of justice and falsification of an Oil Record Book to cover-up intentional pollution from bulk carrier M/V Atlantic Oasis.The company Nitta Kisen Kaisha Ltd., owner and operater of the Atlantic Oasis, admitted that its engineers failed to document the illegal discharge of oily wastes from the vessel’s fuel and lubrication oil purifier systems, as well as discharges of oily bilge waste from the bilge holding tank and from the vessel’s bilges when delivering steel products to Wilmington, N.C. in 2017.During a U.S. Coast Guard inspection of the vessel on May 17…

23 May 2018

Ship Tech: U.S. Coast Guard R&D Center

Mr. William Bryan, Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary for Science and Technology, receives a personal demonstration of the Coast Guard Hailing Acoustic and Laser Light Tactical System (HALLTS) installed on a Coast Guard boat, Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018, on the Thames River, New London, Connecticut. Bryan visited the Research and Development Center to observe the HALLTS as part of a larger technology demonstration. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo courtesy of Research and Development Center)

The U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center (RDC) in New London, Connecticut, is the service's only command conducting research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) support for all 11 statutory missions. Since its commissioning in 1972, RDC has been involved in over 2,000 projects and initiatives that have significantly benefited the Coast Guard and the components of the Maritime Transportation System. As the demand for research and development capability grows within the service…

25 Aug 2017

MST, Reederei Indicted for Falsifying Pollution Records

The U.S. Justice Department announced a federal grand jury in Portland, Maine, returned a nine-count indictment today charging MST Mineralien Schiffarht Spedition Und Transport GmbH (MST) and Reederei MS “Marguerita” GmbH & Co. Geschlossene Investment KG (Reederei) with failing to keep accurate pollution control records and falsifying records. The charges stem from the falsification of records in 2016 and 2017 designed to cover up overboard discharges of oily mixtures and machinery space bilge water from the Liberian-flagged cargo vessel, M/V Marguerita. On at least eight occasions between September 2016 and June 2016, the M/V Marguerita entered United States waters and ports with a false and misleading Oil Record Book available for inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard.

27 Feb 2018

Tanker Operator, Master Sentenced for Pollution

A tanker vessel operator and master were convicted this week for maintaining false and incomplete records relating to the discharge of oil and garbage from an oil tanker that was operating off the coast of Texas. On Monday, operator Sea World Management & Trading Inc. and the master of tanker Sea Faith, Edmon Fajardo, pleaded guilty to two felony violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships for failing to accurately maintain the Sea Faith’s Oil Record Book and Garbage Record Book, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick and Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood. Both admitted that oil cargo residues and machinery…