NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Two companies responsible for the operation of the motor tanker “PS Dream” have pleaded guilty to knowingly committing environmental crimes.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana reported Prive Overseas Marine LLC and Prive Shipping Denizcilik Ticaret entered guilty pleas on Tuesday, May 21 on charges of conspiracy, knowingly violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and obstruction of justice related to the falsification of the tanker’s Oil Record Book, a required log.
The case originates from a crew member’s report made to the Coast Guard New Orleans Sector on Jan. 11, 2023, of a video showing oil being pumped overboard and trailing the tanker.
Court documents revealed when the tanker arrived in New Orleans two weeks later, the crew member and another provided evidence for the Coast Guard.
Additionally, documents showed the ship’s master ordered crews to pump overboard from the residual oil tank, containing oily waste such as sludge, through a flexible hose directly into the ocean with no monitoring.
“Deliberate pollution from ships, intentional falsification of records and obstruction of justice are serious environmental crimes that will be vigorously prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Maritime laws regulating pollution from ships are intended to ensure that ocean waters are not used as a dumping ground.”
United States Attorney Duane A. Evans said the court is intending to hold both companies accountable as the case involved “deceit and willful pollution.”
“Criminal prosecutions are needed to deter deliberate efforts to circumvent our Nation’s anti-pollution laws. Importantly, $500,000 of the criminal penalty will go toward environmental protection of the marine environment in our area,” said Evans.
The attorney’s office reported that the falsified logs presented to the Coast Guard were intended to conceal the facts of the matter including noncompliance with the MARPOL Annex I.
Officials with the attorney’s office say if the court approves the plea agreement, the companies will be fined$2 million and have to serve four years of probation.
The ship’s master Captain Abdurrahman Korkmaz has had separate charges filed against him.
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