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Carrier fined US$2.5 million for bilge spill, crew jailed, banned for life
DUTCH shipping company DSD was fined US$2.5 million in Mobile, Alabama federal court for an oily bilge water spill from the 56,000-ton Stavanger Blossom, a tanker without the proper environmental safeguards and lying to the Coast Guard about it, reports United Press International.
Four crewmen were charged with three convicted and sentenced to up to six months in jail. The fourth has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
The four named will have their merchant marine licences revoked and will no longer be allowed to work on cargo vessels in the future.
The sentences were announced by the US Justice Department and arise from a November 2014 spot check of the crude oil tanker by the coast guard.
Inspectors noted the ship lacked an oily water separator. Tankers generate large amounts of oil-contaminated wastewater, which is illegal to discharge without first being filtered.
If accidental discharges happen, they are supposed to be recorded in a log the crew is legally bound to maintain.
Inspectors said the ship did not have the proper environmental equipment and the crew had forged the logs to hide the fact they were illegally discharging the oily wastewater.
The coast guard said the ship had discharged 20,000 gallons of oil-contaminated water in just the last two months of its operation.
Prosecutors showed a company memo dated 2010, which was evidence that DSD were aware of the problem, but continued to operate in violation of US and international laws for another 57 months.
A US district judge ordered DSD to pay $500,000 of the $2.5 million fine to fund marine research in the US Gulf Coast region.
Four crewmen were charged with three convicted and sentenced to up to six months in jail. The fourth has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
The four named will have their merchant marine licences revoked and will no longer be allowed to work on cargo vessels in the future.
The sentences were announced by the US Justice Department and arise from a November 2014 spot check of the crude oil tanker by the coast guard.
Inspectors noted the ship lacked an oily water separator. Tankers generate large amounts of oil-contaminated wastewater, which is illegal to discharge without first being filtered.
If accidental discharges happen, they are supposed to be recorded in a log the crew is legally bound to maintain.
Inspectors said the ship did not have the proper environmental equipment and the crew had forged the logs to hide the fact they were illegally discharging the oily wastewater.
The coast guard said the ship had discharged 20,000 gallons of oil-contaminated water in just the last two months of its operation.
Prosecutors showed a company memo dated 2010, which was evidence that DSD were aware of the problem, but continued to operate in violation of US and international laws for another 57 months.
A US district judge ordered DSD to pay $500,000 of the $2.5 million fine to fund marine research in the US Gulf Coast region.
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