ANSAC fined for unauthorized ballast water discharge near Portland

The Connecticut-based bulk carrier was issued a $5,000 fine after marine inspectors discovered that the freighter ANSAC Moon Bear discharged untreated ballast water into the Willamette River on three separate occasions during port calls in 2017.    The owner of a 590-foot bulk freighter has been fined by the U.S. Coast Guard for unauthorized ballast water discharge into the Willamette River in Portland earlier this month.
   The Coast Guard said Aug. 22 that it has issued a $5,000 fine to Connecticut-based logistics company ANSAC after, during a routine port state control ballast water examination on the Panama-flagged 21,000 gross ton ANSAC Moon Bear, Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Portland marine inspectors discovered that the vessel had discharged untreated ballast water into the Willamette River on three separate occasions during port calls in 2017.
   Marine Safety Unit Portland is in charge of safety for all vessel traffic along the Columbia, Willamette and Snake Rivers.
   Reviewed log books by inspectors during administrative evaluations led to the ballast water discharge discovery, the Coast Guard said.
   “Shortly after issuance of the notice of violation fine the company operating the vessel paid the fine with minimal disruption to the vessels schedule,” the USCG explained in a statement.
   The U.S. ballast water management regulations’ purpose is to implement the provisions of the Non-Indigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990. The ballast water implementation schedule is based on vessel construction dates and ballast water capacity.
   “These regulations are essential to protecting our marine environment as untreated ballast water may pose serious ecological, economic, and health problems due to the multitude of marine species carried in ships’ ballast water,” MSU Portland Commanding Officer Capt. Thomas Griffitts said.
   The ANSAC Moon Bear is a newly built vessel, and was taken delivery of by ANSAC on Jan. 18 at Shin Kuroshima shipyard in Japan. The 33,000-deadweight-ton, box shaped ecological bulk carrier is primarily used to carry soda ash to ANSAC customers in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.