Gregory Case News

U.S. Carbofin S.p.A., an Italian domiciled company that owned and operated the M/T Marigola was sentenced to pay an overall criminal penalty of $2.75 million for knowingly falsifying the vessel’s oil record book in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), announced the Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. During 2013 and 2014, on numerous international voyages, senior members of the crew of the M/T Marigola directed the installation and use of a so-called “magic hose” to dispose of sludge, waste oil and oil-contaminated bilge water directly into the sea bypassing required pollution prevention equipment.

Last summer, USCG Commander Gregory Case was charged with transforming the Coast Guard’s Towing Vessel National Center of Expertise (TVNCOE) from a plan on paper to a brick and mortar reality. The center is one of seven National Centers of Expertise, and is charged with training towing vessel examiners and inspectors, being a repository of towing vessel expertise and forming and strengthening partnerships with industry. In May 2010 the center was officially opened in Paducah, Kentucky.