German Shipping Companies Fined $1.5 Million Over Illegal Oil Discharge

The cargo ship M/V BBC Magellan is said to have been banned from conducting business in the U.S. over the next five years.

The U.S. Department of Justice Attorney's Office of the Northern District of Florida, Tuesday announced that German shipping companies, Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG (Briese) and Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG MS "Extum" (Extum) who owned and operated the M/V BBC Magellan cargo ship have pled guilty and been sentenced to pay a total of $1.5 million for illegally discharging oil into the ocean.

The two companies are said to have been ordered to pay $1.25 million in fines and an additional $250,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Further, the ship M/V BBC Magellan is said to have been banned from conducting business in the U.S. over the next five years.

The companies are said to have pled guilty in the failure to maintain an accurate oil record book, which is required under the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, as well as witness tampering, having persuaded the party to provide false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) regarding a bypass hose on the vessel that is said to have been used to discharge oil into the sea.

The case stems from a USCG inspection in March 2015 at the Port of Pensacola, which uncovered an improperly attached rubber hose on the M/V BBC Magellan, which officials are said to have later determined had been installed by the crew between January and March 2015 on behalf of the vessel's owner.

The hose is said to have been intended to discharge oily wastes from the ship's holding tanks directly into the ocean.

"Our federal environmental laws rightfully require companies to record their oil waste disposal to keep them accountable and to protect our oceans and marine life," said Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher P. Canova.

The crew is said to have failed to make the required entries in the vessel's oil record book upon discharge, after which the chief engineer on the vessel is said to have instructed the crew to lie to the USCG upon questioning about the purpose of the hose and the wastes that were discharged from the vessel.

"Shipping companies that transport commerce across open seas must respect the international laws and obligations of their trade, which exist to prevent the spoiling of oceans and marine habitats," said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden of the Department of Justice's Environmental and Natural Resources Division.

"This egregious behavior by shipping companies, which included intentional deception and witness tampering, will not be tolerated. We will continue to prosecute companies and their officers for these crimes."

Ship & Bunker reported on a similar case in December, in which a federal grand jury in Greenville, North Carolina returned a nine-count indictment against two engineering officers, Rustico Yabut Ignacio and Cassius Flores Samson, employed by Greece-based Oceanfleet Shipping Limited (Oceanfleet) with illegal discharge of oily wastes directly into the sea.