U.S. Court Convicts Two Chief Engineers in Relation to Oily Waste Discharge

Two chief engineers of the vessel T/V Green Sky have been convicted of falsifying documents related to oily waste dumping.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) today announced that a Charleston, South Carolina federal jury has convicted two chief engineers of the Aegean Shipping Management, S.A. (Aegean)-operated vessel T/V Green Sky for falsifying documents in order to conceal illegal discharges of oily bilge waste, as well as obstruction charges.

As Ship & Bunker has previously reported, the investigation into activity onboard the T/V Green Sky began in late August 2015 upon the vessel's arrival in the Port of North Charleston, when members of the ship's engine room staff told the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) that they had been told to bypass the vessel's oil water separator on multiple occasions.

Herbert Julian, the vessel's chief engineer from August 3 to September 4, 2015, has been convicted of two felony counts under the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and for obstruction of justice.

Panagiotis Koutoukakis, the vessel's chief engineer from February 1 to August 3, 2015, has been convicted of two felony counts, one for APPS and another for falsifying records.

Aegean itself is noted by the court to have previously pleaded guilty to a violation of the APPS and obstruction of justice.

"This case involved egregious violations of U.S. and international laws that are key to protecting the oceans from pollution, and deliberate efforts to mislead Coast Guard officials about these criminal acts," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeff Wood of JOD's Environment and Natural Resources Division.

"Now these defendants have been held accountable under the law by a jury of their peers. The Department of Justice will continue to aggressively prosecute criminal acts that pollute the oceans."

As previously reported, a related case is noted to have seen the former captain of the T/V Green Sky, Genaro Anciano, plead guilty to one count of obstruction on February 18 for knowingly making false and misleading oral and written statements in order to cover up the bypass allegations.