German Company Fined $1 Million in U.S. Oil Dumping Case

Germany's MST, which operates M/V Cornelia, has been fined $1 million in the U.S. for failing to maintain accurate ship records on the disposal of oil-contaminated waste and with presenting falsified records to USCG.

Germany's MST Mineralien Schiffahrt Spedition und Transport GmbH (MST), which operates M/V Cornelia, has been fined $1 million in the U.S. under Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) in relation to the vessel.

As Ship & Bunker reported in May, U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger for the Department of Justice in the District of Minnesota announced that MST had been charged with failing to maintain accurate ship records on the disposal of oil-contaminated waste and with presenting falsified records to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG).

The sentence includes an $800,000 criminal fine and a $200,000 community service payment for the protection and preservation of Lake Superior and the Lake Superior watershed.

Under the sentence, MST will also serve three years of probation, during which time the company cannot commit any further violations under international, U.S. federal or state jurisdictions.

Further, MST has been ordered to fund and implement an Environmental Compliance Plan (ECP) for all of its vessels that it operates that call at U.S. ports or places in the U.S.

"The criminal fine and community service payment imposed by the Court provide a strong deterrent to future would-be polluters and significant funding to preserve and protect Lake Superior for future generations," said Assistant U.S. Attorney John Kokkinen.

As Ship & Bunker reported in December, the general cargo ship Cornelia was expected to be trapped in the Great Lakes by impending winter ice if not released from legal detention resulting from the pollution investigation by authorities in Duluth, Minnesota on Lake Superior.