Wallenius Ship Management pays $6.5 million in pollution plea bargain

Wallenius Ship Management pays $6.5 million in pollution plea bargain Wallenius Ship Management Pte Ltd., operator and manager of a fleet of car carriers, pleaded guilty Friday in a New Jersey federal court to seven felony counts involving pollution and obstruction of justice, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.
   The ocean carrier, owned jointly by Wallenius Marine AB, a Swedish corporation, and Singapore Shipping Corp. Ltd., has agreed to pay $6.5 million in criminal fines and community service payments.
   The Justice Department said that in November, the U.S. Coast Guard received information from crew members about 'various environmental offenses' aboard the 'Atlantic Breeze,' a Wallenius car carrier. The Coast Guard subsequently boarded the vessel in Port Newark, N.J., to conduct a port state control inspection.
   On the ship, the Coast Guard discovered equipment — referred to by the crew as the 'magic pipe' — that 'had been specially fabricated and used to bypass the ship's pollution prevention equipment and to discharge oily waste directly into the ocean,' the Justice Department said.
   An investigation determined the 'Atlantic Breeze' had been discharging oil-contaminated bilge waste into the ocean since 2002, and discharging plastic since 2005. The Justice Department noted the discharges, 'made in violation of the MARPOL Protocol ' were actively concealed through the falsification of records.' In addition, 'Wallenius Ship Management engineers and other crew members lied to Coast Guard inspectors and took other steps to obstruct the investigation.'
   The Justice Department also said Nyi Nyi, chief engineer on the 'Atlantic Breeze,' had pleaded guilty to submitting a false oil record book to the Coast Guard at Port Newark. Nyi faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
   U.S. District Judge Joseph A. Greenaway Jr., who took guilty pleas from Nyi and Wallenius Ship Management, will sentence the chief engineer on July 10.
   'We promise more prosecutions when we come across such wanton disregard for the ocean and environment,' said Christopher J. Christie, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
   Under terms of the plea agreement, Wallenius Ship Management will pay a $5 million criminal fine and an additional $1.5 million payment to community service projects administered by the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation.