A fishing vessel company that operated in and around American Samoa was sentenced for maintaining false and incomplete records relating to the discharge of oil and garbage, the US Department of Justice informed.
The fishing vessel responsible for the pollution is “Yuh Fa No. 201”, owned by Yuh Fa Fishery (Vanuatu) Co. Ltd.
The company admitted that its engineers failed to document the illegal dumping of oily bilge water into the waters of the South Pacific Ocean without the use of required pollution prevention equipment. The Chief Engineer onboard the vessel acknowledged that there had been discharge of oil to the sea, that caused a visible sheen upon the water and that he did not log this discharge in the vessel’s Oil Record Book, as required by law.
The company also admitted that its engineers made several modifications using flexible hoses to the vessel’s piping system, which allowed oily bilge water and oil sludge to be discharged directly overboard.
In addition, Yuh Fa Fishery admitted that, between June 2013 and June 2016, senior engineers regularly failed to accurately record the transfer and disposal of oil waste in the vessel’s Oil Record Book. The vessel’s captains also failed to properly maintain a Garbage Record Book, and Yuh Fa Fishery was unable to accurately account for the storing, sorting, and disposal of garbage during the vessel’s extended fishing trips.
As explained, the US Coast Guard relies on the above mentioned records to determine whether vessels are illegally dumping oil and garbage at sea. As a result, tons of oil sludge, waste oil, oily bilge water, and garbage produced by the vessel remain unaccounted for.
The company pleaded guilty to two felony violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, for failing to accurately maintain an Oil Record Book and a Garbage Record Book. Under the terms of the plea agreement, the company will pay a total fine of $2.5 million, which includes a community service payment of $625,000 for use in the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa. Yuh Fa Fishery (Vanuatu) Co. Ltd., will also serve a 5-year period of probation.
The case against Yuh Fa Fishery (Vanuatu) Co. Ltd., was investigated by US Coast Guard personnel in American Samoa and Honolulu, Hawaii.
