Tag: US Department of Justice

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 ...