Greek Operator Pleads Guilty
Pendulum Shipmanagement Inc., a ship management company, headquartered in Greece, pleaded guilty on Jan. 13 to charges that it conspired with members of the crew of the M/V Quantum, a commercial cargo ship, to defraud the United States by falsifying the vessel’s Oil Record Book, announced Acting United States Attorney Laurie Magid. United States District Judge Berle M. Schiller immediately sentenced the company to a $1.3m fine, a $1,600 special assessment, three years of probation, and ordered the company to implement an Environmental Compliance Plan. The false entries and omissions in the Oil Record Book pertained to the improper management and disposal of oily waste and ballast containing an oily mixture by the ship.
B.Navi Sentenced For Pollution-Related Charges
B.Navi Ship Management Services (B.Navi) was sentenced to pay $1.5m and serve three years probation in connection with the illegal dumping of oily sludge, bilge wastes, and oil-contaminated ballast water from the M/V Windsor Castle, a 27,000 gross-ton bulk carrier vessel, Ronald J. Tenpas, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Captain William Diehl, Commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston announced. Engine room operations onboard large ocean-going vessels such as the M/V Windsor Castle generate large amounts of waste oil. International and law prohibit the discharge of waste oil without treatment by an Oil Water Separator.
Shipping Company and Chief Engineer Plead Guilty
Italian shipping company B. Navi Ship Management Services and Chief Engineer Dushko Babukchiev pleaded guilty in connection with the illegal dumping of oily sludge, bilge wastes and oil contaminated ballast water from one of the company’s ships, the M/V Windsor Castle, a 27,000 gross-ton bulk carrier vessel, Assistant Attorney General Ronald J. Tenpas, U.S. Attorney Donald J. DeGabrielle Jr., and U.S. Coast Guard Captain James E. Tunstall announced. B. Navi Ship Management Services pleaded guilty on Feb. 7, 2008, to a two-count criminal information charging it with violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and making materially false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard. Chief Engineer Babukchiev pleaded guilty on Feb.
Ship Captain Pleads Guilty
Nicanor E. Jumalon pleaded guilty in federal court in Puerto Rico, for his involvement with the illegal dumping of oily sludge, bilge wastes, and oil contaminated ballast water from the 479-foot general cargo vessel the M/V Sportsqueen, the Justice Department announced. Jumalon pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges related to his actions while aboard the ship and will serve prison terms of eight months in prison. According to the plea agreement, on April 14, 2007, the Sportsqueen arrived at port in San Juan, Puerto Rico and was boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard. During the boarding, the Coast Guard discovered that Captain Jumalon had ordered crew members to discharge oil contaminated ballast water into the ocean prior to arriving into port in San Juan.
