The US Coast Guard ended the voyage of the vessel ‘Pacific Provider’ that was illegally carrying passengers for hire operating out of Whittier. The USCG proceeded to terminate the voyage after it found that the ship was breaching the Vessel Passenger Service Act. Two passengers stated that they paid for a trip on the Pacific Provider.
The West of England P&I Club published an update regarding the situation in the Ukraine about access to vessels for ecological inspectors to check certification and take samples of segregated ballast water for analysis, and the imposition of fines where it is considered that contaminated ballast water has been discharged.
The US Coast Guard terminated the voyage of the 65-foot pleasure yacht Zenith at Sea Isle Marina, as it discovered several safety issues and environmental concerns, which included the carriage of more paying passengers than they were certified to carry onboard the vessel. The boarding was conducted after the yacht allided with the Venetian Causeway Bridge earlier that day.
The Captain of a Russian oil tanker was fined a total of £25761.99 at Hull Magistrates Court on 14 June, after breaching the International Safety Management Code. The prosecution was brought by the UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency. Vitaliy Trofimov, Captain of the Russian tanker, pleaded guilty to non-compliance of safety requirements.
A US federal appeals court upheld the criminal convictions and penalties that were imposed on the operators of the Ocean Hope. The case stems after an inspection, during which senior engineers for the companies tried to hide that the vessel had been dumping oily wastes into the ocean for months.
The UK Health & Safety Executive issued a report about a company that has been fined after an employee got injured when he was hit by a steel plate that fell from a crane, on 10 December 2015. The company has been fined £32,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3444.80 and a victim surcharge of £120.00.
UK-based marine services contractor Inchcape and some of its subsidiaries have agreed to pay $20,000,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly overbilling the US Navy under contracts for ship husbanding services, the US Department of Justice announced.
Two Honolulu-based fishing companies, along with the company managers and vessel operators, have agreed to implement operational improvements and other compliance measures and pay civil penalties over numerous discharges of oily bilge waste from the commercial fishing vessels ‘Triple Dragon’ and ‘Capt. Millions III’.
On the aftermath of the death of 2,400 sheep from heat stress on the livestock carrier ‘Awassi Express’, Australia will require ships carrying live cattle and sheep exports to have an independent observer to ensure welfare standards. The country will also introduce new legislation to penalise any exporter that violates these standards.
Maritime NZ prosecuted the master of one of Fullers Group Limited’s Auckland ferries, Seaflyte, which had collided with a recreational boat. The skipper was charged under the Maritime Transport Act, and has been fined $2,000 after admitting not keeping proper look-out. No one was injured on either vessel.
