Salvage Plan Considered For Elk River Tug
The Coast Guard, in conjunction with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy's Supervisor of Salvage, is reviewing a plan submitted by the owners and contracted salvors of a sunken tug and a barge impeding vessel traffic in the Elk River in the Upper Chesapeake Bay. The tug and barge, which sank in the shipping channel following a collision with a freighter, have caused the adjacent C&D Canal to remain closed to all vessel traffic pending their safe removal. Four men remain missing following the incident. The salvage plan, submitted by Norfolk Dredging Marine, the sunken tug Swift's owners, and Ellsworth Salvage, the contractor, must adequately address a number of safety, environmental, and navigational considerations in order to receive the agencies' authorization to begin operations.
Tanker Company Sentenced
Thomas M. DiBiagio, U.S. Attorney for Maryland and Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department Environment and Natural Resources Division, today announced the sentencing of a Danish shipping company, D/S Progress, to pay a $250,000 criminal fine for conspiring to conceal a hazardous leak in the hull of an oil tanker that visited Baltimore, for failing to report emergency discharges to save the ship and for presenting false log books to the U.S. Coast Guard in order to disguise the leak, emergency discharges and other deliberate acts of dumping oil. D/S Progress, a ship management company based in Copenhagen, Denmark, was responsible for the "Freja Jutlandic," an oil tanker which first arrived in Baltimore on March 22, 2000.
Ship Owner Sentenced for Failure to Report Oil Spill
Dolbey Marine Inc., of Salisbury, Md., was sentenced in the Federal District Court of Baltimore to a felony charge of failure to notify the U.S. Coast Guard of an oil spill. The sentence included a fine of $7500 and 3 years probation. Charles Dolbey Jr., owner of Dolbey Marine Inc., was also sentenced to 6 months home detention with work release and fined $3000 for a misdemeanor charge of negligent discharge of oil into U.S. waters. The sentencing was a result of two plea agreements between the U.S. Attorney, Dolbey Marine Inc., and Dolbey from an oil spill that occurred in Salisbury on October 19, 1999. Coast Guard Activities Baltimore Pollution Investigators responded to a reported oil spill on the Wicomico River in Salisbury.
Vessel Collides in Upper Bay
The Coast Guard, along with state and local rescue teams, is searching for survivors after an apparent collision involving three vessels that occurred in the Elk River, off the Chesapeake Bay in northern Maryland, early this morning. The vessels A/V Kastner, Buchanan 14, and Swift, were involved in an apparent collision on Monday morning. The tugboat Swift apparently sank while the A/V Kastner and tug Buchanan reportedly went aground. Rescue crews transported two injured crewmembers to Union Hospital in Cecil County, Md., and one injured crewmember was flown to the Shock and Trauma Center in Baltimore. The extent of the injuries is unknown. Two others apparently made it to shore in good condition.
