ORB CRIMINAL CASES

Beware!!

» If an illegal discharge of oil is believed to have taken place within

US waters, this amounts to a deliberate breach of MARPOL and
under the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships , an individual is
punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine
not exceeding $250,000.

» Companies may be fined and the vessel may be sold to meet any
penalty imposed.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES

Beware!!
Ø Under the Clean Water Act, the intentional or negligent
discharge of oil in territorial seas may lead to prosecution which
provides for up to 5 years imprisonment for failing to report such
an event.

Ø Under the Responsible Corporate Officer Doctrine Act, senior

managers who ought to have known of a violation or who could
have and should have taken steps to prevent such an
occurrence may be held criminally liable.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES

If it is believed that the Oil Record Book (ORB) contains fabricated

information, criminal charges may be brought under the False
Statements Act irrespective of whether the vessel was within or outside
US territorial waters at the time of the alleged wrong doing.

Other charges which have been brought in the past include:

1. witness tampering,
2. supplying government representatives with false information (obs truction)
and
3. conspiracy.
Conviction for any of these offences may lead to a substantial fine
and/or a prison sentence for shipboard personnel and even shore staff.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES

Falsifying Oil Record Book Entries

A Crime Which Can Land You In Jail

ORB CRIMINAL CASES
CASE I

A leading Ship Management Company was made to pay $10.5 m for deliberate
pollution by the 2,394-teu MSC Elena and for trying to cover up the crime.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES

OSG PAYS
RECORD $37M PENALTY

q New York -based tanker owner Overseas Shipholding Group

has agreed to pay the largest fine ever in a US oily water
separator (OWS) case, ending a three-year probe
encompassing 12 vessels and six US ports.

q The record payment is $37m, topping the previous high

payment of $25m by Tawianese container giant Evergreen in
2005.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES
$10M MSC PLEA DEAL

• MSC Ship Management has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to

pay a $10 million criminal fine after admitting to engaging in
conspiracy, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, false
statements and violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.

• The company will also go on probation for five years and pay some
$500,000 to fund various environmental programmes -- including one to
educate people about how to report marine pollution.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES
$10M MSC PLEA DEAL

• MSC Elena discharged approximately 40 tons or approximately 10,640

gallons of sludge during a five- month period in 2004 through a three-
piece bypass pipe manufactured on the ship.

• An even larger volume of oil-contaminated bilge waste was also

discharged with a rubber hose and portable pump.

• The MSC Elena made regular voyages from ports in Europe across the
Atlantic to ports in the United States, including Boston.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES
FINAL JUDGEMENT IN THE ELENA CASE

• The Chief Engineer of MSC Elena, was sentenced to

two months of incarceration, a $3,000 fine, and a
$500 special assessment by U.S. District Judge Patti
B. Saris.

• On February 2, 2006, the company that owns the

MSC Elena, pleaded guilty to charges that it engaged
in conspiracy, obstruction of justice, destruction of
evidence, false statements and violated the Act to
Prevent Pollution from Ships and was sentenced to
pay a fine of $10.5 million.

• This fine was the largest ever paid in a case involving

deliberate pollution from a single vessel and the
largest criminal fine paid by a defendant in an
environmental case in Massachusetts history.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES

CASE II
Five years imprisonment, three years
probation, and a $250,000 fine

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a Press Release stating that two
engineers from the KENT NAVIGATOR plead guilty in federal court to
making false entries in the ship's oil record book to conceal dumping of
waste oil at sea. The individuals face a potential maximum penalty of
five years imprisonment, three years probation, and a $250,000 fine.

FINAL VERDICT WAS 2 YEARS OF PROBATION AND A $3000 FINE

ORB CRIMINAL CASES

CASE III

Three in dock on pollution charge

THREE seafarers are under arrest for allegedly dumping oily water into the
Pacific off Long Beach, California, according to documents released by the
US Attorney. The Greek master of the 25,570dwt bulkier Katrina has been
charged together with his chief engineer and second engineer, both of the
Philippines.

The ship called at Long Beach on 10 September and berthed four days
later. According to the arrest affidavit, crew members told dock workers that
they had been instructed to throw rubbish as well as discharge sewage and
oil into the ocean. The transport workers then contacted the Coast Guard
and a subsequent inspection found that the oil-water separator was not
being used.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES

All three are charged with failing to properly maintain the

Oil Record Book, making false statements to Coast Guard

investigators and obstructing justice by falsifying records

Additionally, The Master is charged with obstruction of

justice for instructing C/E not to answer questions posed by

Coast Guard investigators.

ORB CRIMINAL CASES
CASE IV

The chief engineer of the Singapore-flagged tanker Aral sea has pleaded guilty in a us
federal court in Maine for his role in concealing overboard discharges of oil
contaminated bilge water. The Chief Engineer now faces a maximum penalty of up to
five years imprisonment, a fine up to $250,000 and probation for up to three years,

The investigation began on 21 may when a coast guard inspection team found waste
oil in the overboard piping of the vessel managed by tanker pacific management.
According to court documents, Chief Engineer was asked about the operation of the
oily water separator and said it was working properly. He also presented the oil record
book, which created the false impression that the ship's equipme nt was being
operated properly.

Upon further investigation, the coast guard learned that Chief Engineer had directed
that the separator be 'tricked', which allowed oil in excess of the legal limits to be
discharged overboard.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES

CASE V

Hoegh Fleet Services, a Norwegian operator of ocean-going cargo ships,

pleaded guilty on March 17 2004 to 7 felony counts of violating federal
laws including keeping a falsified Oil Record book, obstructing justice
and making false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Under the agreement, Hoegh must pay $3.5 million in penalties, develop
a comprehensive environmental plan for its 40 ships that visit U.S.
waters, and serve 4 years probation.

According to court documents, the case began in September 2003 when

a whistle blower from the crew of the vessel Hoegh Minerva informed
authorities that crew members had allegedly used a bypass pipe to
route waste oil around the oil-water separator in the ship's pollution
control system.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES

CASE VI

A large shipping company pleaded guilty to seven criminal charges regarding the
•

falsification of records and the concealment of evidence by one of its ships while
calling at various ports in California and Washington.

If the plea agreement is approved, the company will be required to pay a fine of
•

$3.5 million, develop a comprehensive environmental compliance plan for its fleet
and serve four years on probation.

The charges were brought after the Second Engineer admitted instructing other
•

crewmembers to bypass the OWS by using a flexible pipe assembled on board and
to paint the fittings after disconnection.

The officer was sentenced to 30 days in custody plus two years of supervised
•

release.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES

CASE VII

• US Coast Guard officers attended a vessel in Kalama, Washington

to carry out a routine port state control inspection.
• A flexible hose with a flange at each end was found in the vicinity of
the OWS, and chipped paint was observed on nearby joints and in
the region of the overboard discharge valve. The inspectors also
concluded that the ship’s incinerator was incapable of burning all of
the oil sludge produced each day in spite of entries in the ORB to
the contrary.
• The ship owner entered into a plea agreement amounting to a
criminal fine of $200,000, a requirement to develop an environmental
compliance plan for its entire fleet, the payment of $50,000 into an
escrow account to fund the implementation
ORB CRIMINAL CASES

CASE VIII

• US Coast Guard officers in Longview, Washington boarded a

bulk carrier after being advised by the Canadian Royal Air
Force that an oil sheen had been seen in the vicinity of the
vessel a few days earlier.
• Hoses which may have been used to bypass the OWS were
found.
• The Chief Engineer subsequently acknowledged that oily
water had been pumped overboard and that false entries had
been made in the ORB. He was sentenced to twelve months
imprisonment.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES

CASE IX
• Acting on advice from a former crewmember, US government
officials boarded a car carrier in Portland, Oregon and discovered a
flexible hose which had been used to bypass the OWS.

• Furthermore, the overboard discharge valve was found to have been

freshly painted in the area where the bypass hose had been
disconnected.

• The First Assistant Engineer, the officer responsible for the disposal
of waste oil, initially denied all knowledge of the arrangement.
However, he was charged with making a false statement and was
detained in Portland for six months pending a hearing at which he
pleaded guilty. The officer was sentenced to two years on probation.
•

• The ship’s Chief Engineer, who was prosecuted for falsifying the
ORB, was imprisoned for three months.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES

CASE X

• Following the discovery of ORB discrepancies aboard a bulk carrier

in Vancouver, Washington, the Chief Engineer admitted that he had
instructed crew members to discharge oily water into the sea via a
bypass hose.
• The ship owner was ordered to pay a criminal fine of $750,000, was
required to implement a comprehensive environmental compliance
plan and received a sentence of four years on probation.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES
OTHER CASES
TWO VESSEL CORPORATIONS PLEAD GUILTY AND
ARE SENTENCED FOR ILLEGAL DUMPING

q Greek-based shipping companies Chian Spirit Maritime Enterprises,

Inc. and Venetico Marine each pleaded guilty to a felony violation
related to the operation of the M/V Irene E.M., a large bulk carrier.

q Chian Spirit, the carrier owner, and Venetico, the carrier operator,
admitted to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (A PPS)
by misleading U.S. Coast Guard investigators during the vessel’s
port call to the United States in December 2005.

q The companies were sentenced by the Court to pay a total criminal

penalty of $1.25 million dollars and to implement a detailed, court-
monitored Environmental Compliance Plan.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES
TWO VESSEL CORPORATIONS PLEAD GUILTY AND
ARE SENTENCED FOR ILLEGAL DUMPING

q The Chief Engineer of the Irene, pleaded guilty to one APPS

violation for falsifying the Irene’s oil record book. He was sentenced
to serve a one-year term of unsupervised probation.

q The ship’s Master, pleaded guilty to a one-count information

charging him with presenting false information to the U.S. Coast
Guard regarding the vessel’s illegal dumping.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES

CHIEF ENGINEER INDICTED

» In Aug. 2003, the M.V Spring Drake was docked in Portland to pic k up a
load of grain when it was inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard.

» The Chief Engineer an Indian citizen on the ship M/V Spring Drake;
MMS Co., Ltd, a Japanese company that manages the ship; and Grus
Line Shipping S.A., the Panamanian company that owns the ship; w ere
all indicted on Feb. 6 2004 in on charges that allege they dumped oil at
sea, obstructed justice and made false statements.

» The indictment alleges that the ship dumped oil and oily sludge at sea
through a pipe that by passed the ship's pollution control equipment, the
defendants attempted to conceal evidence of the illegal oil discharges,
and they made false entries in the ship's Oil Record Book
ORB CRIMINAL CASES

Verdict from US federal court in Oregon

$2 Million fine to the owner of Spring Drake for dumping oily waste and
falsifying discharge logs

Japanese ship owner, MMS Co, will be forced to undergo a court-

supervised compliance plan
ORB CRIMINAL CASES

THE SHIP'S CHIEF

ENGINEER TO SERVE
ENGINEER,
ONE MONTH IN PRISON
ORB CRIMINAL CASES
PROSECUTION

» “M.V. Spring Drake” prosecution was just

the latest in the series of "increasingly
aggressive" efforts to police compliance
with MARPOL regulations.

» Foreign-flag operators are being criticized

on their environmental record and
characterised their compliance efforts as
"lip service".

» The judge who handed down the ruling,

was quoted as saying the verdict "sends a
message" to chief engineers: “if they
violate environmental laws, they will end
up in US jail cells”.
ORB CRIMINAL CASES
FINES / IMPRISONMENT
» TWO ENGINEERS FROM THE “KENT NAVIGATOR”
» Five years imprisonment,
» Three years probation,
» $250,000 fine

» THREE IN DOCK ON POLLUTION CHARGE

» 25,570 DWT Bulker Katrina
» Greek master charged together with chief engineer and second engineer

» THE CHIEF ENGINEER OF SINGAPORE-FLAGGED TANKER

» Penalty of up to five years imprisonment,
» Fine up to $250,000 and
» Probation for up to three years,

» HOEGH FLEET SERVICES, A NORWEGIAN OPERATOR

» $3.5 million in penalties
» serve 4 years probation
» Second engineer sentenced to 30 days in custody
» Plus two years of supervised release
ORB CRIMINAL CASES
FINES / IMPRISONMENT

» USCG COAST GUARD OFFICERS IN LONGVIEW, WASHINGTON BOARDED A BULKCARRIER

AFTER BEING ADVISED BY THE CANADIAN ROYAL AIR FORCE
» CHIEF ENGINEER WAS SENTENCED TO TWELVE MONTHS IMPRISONMENT

» USCG BOARDED A CAR CARRIER IN PORTLAND, OREGON

» THE FIRST ASSISTANT ENGINEER, THE OFFICER RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DISPOSAL OF WASTE OIL
SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS ON PROBATION
» THE CHIEF ENGINEER WAS PROSECUTED FOR FALSIFYING THE ORB AND IMPRISONED FOR THREE
MONTHS

» USCG ATTENDED A VESSEL IN KALAMA, WASHINGTON TO CARRY OUT A ROUTINE PORT

STATE CONTROL INSPECTION.
» A CRIMINAL FINE OF $200,000,
» A REQUIREMENT TO DEVELOP AN ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE PLAN FOR ITS ENTIRE FLEET
» $50,000 INTO AN ESCROW ACCOUNT TO FUND THE IMPLEMENTATION

» BULK CARRIER IN VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON

» THE SHIP OWNER WAS ORDERED TO PAY A CRIMINAL FINE OF $750,000
» CHIEF ENGINEER RECEIVED A SENTENCE OF FOUR YEARS ON PROBATION