Americas News
German Vessel Owner and Manager Charged With Falsifying Records in Oily-Waste Dumping Case
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Public Affairs today announced that a German ship manager and a vessel owner have been indicted on a nine-count charge for failing to keep accurate pollution control records and falsifying records in relation to oily-waste dumping from the M/V Marguerita.
MST Mineralien Schiffarht Spedition Und Transport GmbH (MST) and Reederei MS "Marguerita" GmbH & Co. Geschlossene Investment KG (Reederei) are said to have falsified records between 2016 and 2017 in order to cover up overboard discharges of oily mixtures and machinery space bilge water from the Liberian-flagged cargo vessel.
"On at least eight occasions between September 2016 and June 2016, the M/V Marguerita entered United States waters and ports with a false and misleading Oil Record Book available for inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard. The Oil Record Book failed to accurately record transfers and discharges of oily wastewater on the vessel," explained DOJ.
Last year, it was announced that MST was facing similar charges related to oily-waste dumping from the M/V Cornelia.
As Ship & Bunker reported in December 2015, the general cargo ship M/V Cornelia was expected to be trapped in the Great Lakes by impending winter ice if not released from legal detention resulting from a pollution investigation by authorities in Duluth, Minnesota on Lake Superior.
