The Spanish government has fined a Vietnamese ship operator $129,000, for an unauthorised ship-to-ship oil transfer that was at the centre of a Russian sanctions probe.
In particular, the ship, the Elephant was inspected at the Spanish mainland port of Ferrol earlier in this year.
Its documentation showed an oil transfer operation off the port of Ceuta that had not been notified to the relevant marine authority.
The prior communication of these STS operations is intended to avoid any risk that may threaten the marine environment since an accidental or deliberate discharge of hydrocarbons into the sea is a considerable source of contamination.
…the ministry said in a statement.
Under the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Marpol), tanker operators should inform a state no less than 48 hours of a planned STS in its territorial waters or EEZ, which stretches 200 nautical miles (370kms) from the coast.
