Tag: court

A former BP engineer was arrested on charges of intentionally destroying evidence The US justice department has filed the first criminal charges linked to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.A former BP engineer was arrested on charges of intentionally destroying evidence.Kurt Mix of Katy, Texas, faces two counts of obstruction of justice.He is accused of trying to delete text messages between himself and a supervisor, in October 2010, containing details about how attempts to cap the leaking well were going.In a sworn affidavit, FBI special agent Barbara O'Donnell said Mr Mix had "deleted numerous electronic records relating to the Deepwater Horizon disaster response, including records concerning the amount of oil potentially flowing from the well, after being repeatedly informed of his obligation to maintain such records".Mr Mix, 50, was involved in some of BP's attempts to cap the well, including the unsuccessful Top Kill efforts in May 2010.Prosecutors say he deleted messages that indicated Top Kill was failing at a time when BP officials were saying publicly that it was broadly proceeding according to plan.Mr Mix resigned from BP earlier in 2012.In a statement, BP said it "had clear policies requiring preservation of evidence in this case and has undertaken substantial ...

He crashed his ship while under the influence of alcohol A captain has pleaded guilty to causing hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage to his ship and the vessel he collided with in Belfast Lough.At a previous hearing Miroslaw Pozniak, 55, admitted crashing his ship while under the influence of alcohol.He could face up to two years in prison.Pozniak was at the helm of a cargo ship in March when it crashed into a ferry with 100 passengers and crew on board.Downpatrick Crown Court heard that the Maritime and Coastal Agency had brought its own charges against the Polish man.They included failing to keep a proper look out, failing to navigate, causing serious damage to his own ship the Union Moon as well as another vessel the Stena Feronia.He pleaded guilty to those charges, but he denied he failed to follow the safety rules of his former employers, along with proper watch keeping arrangements.The latter two charges will remain 'on the books' and will not be proceeded with.The court heard while no-one was injured, the damage to the Stena Feronia will be more than 500,000 and the damage to his own ship will be also a six-figure sum.The judge ...

Merchant vessel collision with a warship The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay a Bombay high court order permitting a Cyprus merchant vessel MW Nordlake, which allegedly rammed into and sank a Rs 1,058-crore Indian Navy Ship, to leave Indian shores after furnishing a bank guarantee of Rs 46.87 crore.A bench of Justices H L Dattu and C K Prasad issued notice on the Centre's appeal to the owners of MV Nordlake, but refused to stay the high court's decision to leave Indian shores after paying an amount equivalent to the ship's value. The vessel would now be able to set sail from the Mumbai coast after a single judge bench of the high court accepts the final valuation report.On January 30, 2011, navigators of MV Nordlake as well as the naval warship did not see each other leading to the head-on collision.The Nilgiri class frigate, INS Vindhyagiri, was hit by the container-laden Cyprus flag flying MV Nordlake near Sunk Rock Lighthouse off Mumbai causing severe damage to the warship's structural integrity leading to its total loss.During the hearing, the bench wondered how a merchant vessel could collide into a warship which technically remained vigilant 24x7 more so when ...

They are sentenced to a 20-year jail term for attacking a French naval ship. Eleven Somalis were on Thursday sentenced to a 20-year jail term for attacking a French naval ship. Mombasa court Principal magistrate Mr S.K.Gacheru declined to have the accused serve their sentence in Somalia as they had pleaded during mitigation.Mr Gacheru instead ordered that they be deported to Somalia upon completion of their sentence.The court noted that the offence was serious and that it had endangered the lives of the crew of the French naval ship, Nivose.The magistrate said the offence called for a deterrent sentence to act as a warning to others who might have the intention of committing a similar offence.The accused are Ahmed Abikadir,Abdirahim Mohamed,Abdullahi Salat,Abdullahi Yusuf,Abdullahi Mohamud,Abdi Dahir,Ahmed Maalim,Ahmed Hassan,Ahmed Mohamed,Abshir Ahmed and Omar Ibrahim.They allegedly committed the offence while armed with two AK 47 rifles, an RPG 7, six RPG launchers and a knife attacked the naval ship on May 3 2009 upon the high seas.State counsel Catherine Mwaniki urged the court to impose a harsh sentence on the accused citing the seriousness of the offence and economic costs incurred."The accused are not of Kenyan origin, their nationalities have not been established, ...

Testimony from a crewmember - pirates threatened to execute him A crewmember from a German ship that was hijacked off the coast of Somalia in 2010 testified that pirates threatened to execute him, suffocated him by placing a plastic bag over his head and led him to believe the ship's captain had been killed during his eight-month ordeal.Ukranian Oleg Dereglazov also said one crew member had his genitals painfully tied together with plastic ties. He detailed the torture aboard the Marida Marguerite on Thursday during Mohammad Saaili Shibin's trial.Shibin has been charged with piracy, hostage-taking and other federal charges in connection with the ship's hijacking. Shibin also faces charges in the hijacking of an American yacht in which all four passengers were shot and killed.Prosecutors say Shibin was a hostage negotiator. He has pleaded not guilty.Source: AP

Public prosecutor said Ten Somalis accused of hijacking a UAE ship should receive the death penalty, the public prosecutor said yesterday.The Federal Court heard the men were guilty of crimes "repulsive to the human self" and deserved the maximum penalty available.The prosecutor recited a verse from the Quran: "The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land."He added: "Islam has set Al Haraba as part of Sharia penalties out of concern for society."The prosecution has presented the case as a ta'azeeri, or secular, crime. This means the maximum penalty would be a death sentence.But should the court decide to try the case under Sharia, a public punishment could take place.The prosecutor said the men "cut off all the cables for telecoms and navigation, set up fires ... placed bombs in the chimneys and caused the injury of two crew members - an Egyptian and a Syrian."Counter-terrorism units stormed the oil carrier MV Arrilah in April after it was hijacked in the ...

He is charged with piracy and a host of other charges for his role in SV Quest hijacking The trial of a Somali man U.S. authorities consider the highest-ranking pirate they have ever captured will begin this week in Virginia under a cloud of uncertainty about what the definition of piracy is.Mohammad Saaili Shibin is charged with piracy and a host of other charges for his role in the 2011 hijacking of an American yacht off the coast of Africa in which all four passengers on board were shot and killed.The owners of the Quest, Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., along with friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle, were the first U.S. citizens killed in pirate attacks that have plagued the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean despite regular international patrols by warships. Negotiations with the U.S. Navy were under way when shots were fired aboard the yacht. The Navy had agreed to let the pirates take the yacht in exchange for the hostages, but court documents say the men didn't think they would get the amount of money they had sought from the exchange. Hostages are typically ransomed for millions of dollars.Shibin's case ...

$500,000 fine and five years of probation for Sea Solutions Steven E. Avery, 56, of Bohannon, VA, Billy J. Avery, 81, of Virginia Beach, VA, and the corporation Sea Solutions, Inc., all pleaded guilty yesterday in Norfolk federal court to various environmental crimes stemming from their activities in the ship scrapping business.Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement that the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen. The three will all be sentenced on July 12, 2012. Steven and Billy Avery each face a minimum 30 days and a maximum of 1 year in prison, Sea Solutions, Inc., faces up to a $500,000 fine and five years of probation.According to court documents, Steven E. Avery and Billy J. Avery operated the defendant corporation, Sea Solutions, Inc. In February 2010, Sea Solutions, Inc. purchased a vessel known as M/V Snow Bird for the purpose of scrapping with the knowledge that it contained a quantity of petroleum products and other pollutants. Despite knowing that these waste products were onboard the M/V Snow Bird and needed to be removed, the defendants commenced scrapping operations with the pollutants onboard. Over the course ...

Suspected to have links to Iranian military programmes The European Union has placed the names of eight companies based in the UAE on a list of entities suspected to have links to Iranian military programmes.An accountancy firm and seven shipping companies were included on a list of companies ordered to have any assets they hold in Europe frozen.The measures were agreed by the EU in December as part of sanctions against Iran.Morison Menon Chartered Accountants is pursuing legal action against the EU after it was included on the list.Court documents lodged with the Court of Justice of the European Communities accuse Morison Menon of being an "IRISL front company, owned or controlled by IRISL, or an IRISL affiliate."Both the EU and United States say the IRISL has played a key role in Iran's efforts to advance its military programme.Morison Menon denies it is a front for the IRISL and is fighting to clear its name. It advised IRISL on setting up an operation in Dubai Maritime City in 2004 and has since offered its services to help the firm launch branches in other emirates.It last did business with the IRISL in July 2010, said Raju Menon, the chairman and group ...

Costa Concordia Captain May Still Face Criminal Charges Italy's highest court ruled Tuesday that the captain of the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship must remain under house arrest while he is investigated for possible criminal charges.Prosecutors wanted Capt. Francesco Schettino to be held behind bars while the investigation continues, but his lawyers had argued he should be given his freedom.At least 30 people died when the giant cruise liner struck rocks and turned on its side off the Italian island of Giglio on January 13.Italy's Supreme Court, known as the Court of Cassation, met Tuesday morning in Rome to consider Schettino's house arrest at a hearing closed to the media.The five-judge panel's ruling was delivered Tuesday evening.Schettino's lawyer, Bruno Leporatti, said in a statement ahead of the ruling that his client had "full trust and respect in the judges and that he awaits the Supreme Court's decision with serenity."The court was also expected to rule on the admissibility of the captain's phone intercepts at the police station following his detention right after the shipwreck.Schettino faces allegations of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, abandoning ship, failing to report an accident to the coast guard and destroying a natural habitat, a prosecutor said ...