The US Department of Justice announced that Navimax Corporation was fined with $2,000,000 by a federal district court for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and obstructing a Coast Guard investigation. Namely, the company discharged oily waste at sea.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Navimax operated the ‘Nave Cielo’, a 750-foot long oil tanker. Before a formal inspection on December 7, 2017, the US Coast Guard boarded the vessel near Delaware City when a crewmember gave the officers a thumb drive containing two videos. These showed a high-volume discharge of dark brown and black oil waste from a five-inch pipe, located 15-feet above water level.
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An investigation during a more comprehensive inspection on December 7, 2017, found that the approximately 10-minute discharge took place on November 2, 2017, in international waters, after the ship left New Orleans heading e to Belgium. During the US Coast Guard boarding on December 7, 2017, crewmembers presented the ship’s Oil Record Book, which did not record this discharge.
The district court ordered Navimax to pay the $2,000,000 fine immediately and placed the company on probation for four years.
According to the US Attorney for the District of Delaware David C. Weiss, the conviction and criminal fine will be reinforced by a four-year term of probation, During this time, Navimax Corporation’s fleet of ships will be monitored.
The message to the shipping industry is clear: environmental crimes at sea will not be tolerated
You can see the video which depicts the oil discharge below
