Ship Manager Fined $2M for MARPOL Offense After Crew Provides Evidence
U.S. officials are reporting yet another case in which a MARPOL violation was discovered after a crewmember turned over evidence to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Department of Justice reported on August 25 that V.Ships Norway pleaded guilty to the violation and was sentenced to pay a $2 million fine.
“Dumping oil-contaminated waste into the waters around our ports and coasts violates the law and poses an unnecessary health and environmental hazard,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “The crew took pains to hide their illegal activity by knowingly keeping inaccurate records. We will not turn a blind eye to this kind of irresponsible and fraudulent activity.”
DOJ reports that between February 2022 and August 2022, a hose was connected between the incinerator waste oil tank and the sewage holding tank on the product tanker Swift Winchester (46,000 dwt). The vessel was at the time operating under the Marshall Islands flag and owned by Winchester Shipping and managed by V. Ships. The hose was a type of “magic pipe” that allowed oily waste to transfer into the sewage holding tank and then to be discharged directly into the sea, bypassing required pollution prevention equipment.
A low-ranking engine crewmember reported this to a superintendent at V.Ships. The superintendent investigated the matter and discovered what appeared to be oil in the sewage tank. DOJ acknowledges that V.Ships dismissed the Chief Engineer.
In August 2022, the new Chief Engineer ordered the engine crew to clean the Oil Water Separator (OWS) filter. The engine crew took the filter onto the deck and hosed it down with a degreaser, and the oily waste washed directly overboard through a scupper.
Coast Guard members from the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Port Arthur conducted an examination of the vessel. While they were in the engine room, a crewmember disclosed the discharges and provided photographic and video evidence documenting the illegal discharges.
The M/T Swift Winchester was charged with entering Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on August 25, 2022, and Port Arthur, Texas, on September 7, 2022, with a knowingly falsified Oil Record Book.
V.Ships admitted that oily bilge water and oily waste were discharged from the vessel and that the discharges were omitted from the Oil Record Book.
The vessel has been sold twice since the incidents. It today operates under a new name and flag.