Tag: US Department of Justice

Italian Ship Owner and Chief Engineer Sentenced for Illegal Discharges from Cargo Ship

Owner Pleads Guilty To Clean Water Act Violations For Oil Spill On Columbia River

A $15,000 fine Acting U.S. Attorney Kevin Feldis announced today that Ronald Monsen of Anchorage was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage to 36 months of probation with the first six months to be spent on home confinement, plus a $15,000 fine, and 50 hours of community service. Monsen's sentence was the result of his guilty plea and conviction for violating the federal Clean Water Act.On June 15, 2012, Ronald Monsen, 63, of Anchorage was sentenced by United States Magistrate Judge Deborah M. Smith.According to Mr. Feldis, the following facts provided the basis for Monsen's guilty plea:Ronald Monsen was a Captain in command of the Pathfinder Tug operated by Crowley Maritime Corporation. On December 23, 2009, the Pathfinder was conducting ice scouting operations in the area of Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska with Monsen in command of the tug. After scouting for ice, Captain Monsen kept the Pathfinder in Prince William Sound until it was time to communicate his ice report at 6:00 pm, expecting that he would then be released from scout duty and be allowed to return to Valdez harbor. While waiting until 6:00 pm, Monsen altered the auto-pilot course back to Valdez by manually by-passing ...

Company Sentenced to Pay $1.2 Million Criminal Penalty A ship management company headquartered in Singapore pleaded guilty and was sentenced today in federal court in Mobile for deliberately falsifying records to conceal pollution discharges from the ship directly into the sea. Target Ship Management Pte. Ltd., the operator of the M/V Gaurav Prem, pleaded guilty to a violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships for failing to properly maintain an oil record book as required by federal and international law, as well as making material false statements during a U.S. Coast Guard inspection of the ship at the port of Mobile in September 2011.Payongyut Vongvichinakul, the ship's chief engineer, and Pakpoom Hanprap, the ship's second engineer, also pleaded guilty to violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and are scheduled to be sentenced on July 19, 2012.The company was sentenced to pay a $1 million criminal fine along with a $200,000 community service payment to the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. The community service payment will be earmarked for projects in the Southern District of Alabama, including Mobile Bay. Target was also sentenced to three years probation. As a condition of the probation, ships operated or ...

Illegal dumping of waste oil and oil-contaminated waste water Italian-based shipping company Giuseppe Bottiglieri Shipping Company S.P.A., owner and operator of the Motor Vessel Bottiglieri Challenger, and Vito La Forgia, the vessel's chief engineer, have been charged in a four-count indictment with the illegal dumping of waste oil and oil-contaminated waste water in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), conspiracy and two counts of obstruction of justice, theDepartment of Justice announced today.Engine room operations on board large ocean going vessels such as the Bottiglieri Challenger generate large amounts of waste oil and oil-contaminated waste water. International and U.S. law requires that all overboard discharges of waste oil be recorded in an oil record book, a log that is regularly inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard.According to the indictment, on or about Jan. 25, 2012, the Bottiglieri Challenger arrived in Mobile, Ala., and was boarded by Coast Guard officials who conducted an inspection to determine the vessel's compliance with U.S. and international law. The Coast Guard's inspection uncovered evidence that Giuseppe Bottiglieri Shipping Company, acting through its agents and employees and chief engineer Vito La Forgia, conspired to and failed to maintain an accurate oil record book ...

One year probation and a $500 fine The Vessel Master of the M/V Laconia pled guilty to operating a commercial vessel under the influence of alcohol on the Columbia River. Georgios Choulis pled guilty and was sentenced by the Honorable Marco Hernandez to one year probation and a $500 fine. Choulis is also prohibited from sailing in any capacity on waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States for one year.Choulis was charged by information with negligent operation of a commercial vessel, a class A misdemeanor. Choulis was the only licensed Vessel Master on the M/V Laconia, a 736 foot commercial vessel, sailing under the flag of Malta. M/V Laconia was attempting to cross the Columbia Bar, one of the most dangerous bars in the world, when the Coast Guard and a pilot from the Columbia River Bar Pilots Association boarded the M/V Laconia to assist in crossing the bar. Choulis was not present for the crossing and was instead found sleeping in his berth with a strong odor of alcoholic beverages surrounding him. Coast Guard officials observed an almost empty bottle of scotch and the defendant appeared to be slurring his words. A breathalyzer test indicated Choulis had ...

The company will pay a fine of $1.0 million Horizon Lines, Inc. announced that its Horizon Lines, LLC operating subsidiary has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, under which the ocean cargo carrier will plead guilty to two counts of providing federal authorities with false vessel oil record-keeping entries on a containership in the U.S. West Coast-Hawaii service.Under the agreement, which is subject to court approval, the company will pay a fine of $1.0 million and donate an additional $500,000 to the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation for environmental community service programs. The company also has agreed to be placed on probation for three years and institute an environmental compliance plan.The charges stem from the improper use of an oily water separator and related inappropriate record keeping on the Horizon Enterprise, an American-flag containership that sails between Tacoma, Oakland and Honolulu. Oily water separators are used to remove oil from bilge or wastewater, so that the water can then be legally discharged into the ocean.The company responded promptly and proactively to the discovery of these violations. As part of the company's environmental review, Horizon Lines conducted a fleet-wide audit and has cooperated fully with the Department ...

More Than $1 Million for Dumping Oily Waste into Hawaiian Waters Keoje Marine Co. Ltd. and two engineers from the M/T Keoje Tiger pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Honolulu to environmental crimes violations, announced Environment and Natural Resources Division Assistant Attorney General Ignacia S. Moreno and U.S. Attorney Florence T. Nakakuni.Keoje Marine was sentenced to pay a $1.15 million criminal penalty, $250,000 of which will go to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation as a community service payment for projects aimed at protecting and restoring marine resources in the District of Hawaii. Keoje Marine pleaded guilty to three felonies: violating the Clean Water Act for the dumping of oily bilge waste into waters off Hawaii that may have affected the natural resources of the United States, violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from ships for covering up the dumping of the oily waste by falsifying the vessel's oil record book and obstruction of justice during a U.S. Coast Guard inspection of the M/T Keoje Tiger in October 2011."Keoje and two of its senior ship engineers violated U.S. laws that protect our treasured oceans and critical marine habitats from harm," said Assistant Attorney General Moreno. "The shipping industry is ...