Petraia Maritime found guilty in pollution case

Petraia Maritime found guilty in pollution case A jury in Maine last week returned a guilty verdict against Petraia
Maritime Ltd. for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution From Ships (APPS).
   Petraia was convicted of failing to maintain a record of overboard discharges of oily bilge waste from the 'Kent Navigator,' a vessel that it owned and operated. The discharges were made without using required pollution control equipment.
   Two chief engineers serving aboard the 'Kent Navigator' had previously pleaded guilty to making false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard for their role in the attempted cover-up of Petraia Maritime’s illegal oily waste discharges.
   The government's investigation began in August 2004, when the
Coast Guard received an anonymous tip that a vessel bound for Portland, Maine discharged its waste oil and bilge while at sea.
   MARPOL, a treaty signed by more than 135 countries representing approximately 97.5 percent of the world's commercial tonnage and implemented into U.S. law by the APPS, limits the oil content of discharges from ships to no more than 15 parts per million. An oil water separator is required aboard vessels to meet these laws.
   The Coast Guard inspected the 'Kent Navigator' and found oily residue in piping that led to overboard discharge valves and inoperable oil pollution control equipment.
   The Coast Guard said its investigation revealed that while the vessel was at sea, the ship's crew discharged waste oil tanks and bilge tanks directly over board, and also discharged the bilges in a way that circumvented the ship's oil water separator. These discharges, which numbered 13 over eight months, were usually in excess of 5,000 gallons each and resulted in the discharge of significant quantities of oil.
   The government said to conceal this illegal discharge activity, Petraia's employees attempted to conceal this illegal activity by falsifying records in the ship's oil record book.