Federal judge fines ship owner, operator for oil dumping

The owner and the operator of the Gallia Graeca, a Greek ship that dumped oily bilge into the Pacific Ocean, were found guilty in June 2016 of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, as well as for falsification of records and fraud.    The U.S. Justice Department on Friday said the owner and the operator of a Greek ship that dumped oily bilge into the Pacific Ocean were fined $1.3 million by a federal court for the western district of Washington state.
   The ship operator, Angelakos (Hellas) S.A., and shipowner, Gallia Graeca Shipping Ltd., were found guilty in June 2016 of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, as well as for falsification of records and fraud.
   “These companies promoted a culture of lies and lawlessness that left a trail of pollution in the Pacific Ocean,” said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes for the Western District of Washington, in a statement. “Knowing that the Coast Guard was going to do an inspection of their shipping vessel, corporate managers allowed the chief engineer to present falsified documents.”
   According to court records, the cargo ship Gallia Graeca sailed from China to Seattle in October 2015. During the voyage, a pollution-control device, known as an oil water separator, was inoperable. On three occasions that month, the ship discharged overboard about 5,000 gallons of oily bilge water. The defendants concealed these incidents from the Coast Guard by making false statements to inspectors and making false statements and omissions in the ship’s oil record book.
   “When Coast Guard inspectors asked the engineers to operate the oil water separator during the inspection, the engineers did so in such a way that the equipment appeared to be working properly even though it was not,” the Justice Department said. “When Coast Guard inspectors examined the oil water separator, they found its filters were clogged with oil and found oil residue in the overboard discharge piping.”
   The ship’s records indicated the oil water separator had not been working for months prior to the voyage from China.
   “Keeping the ship on schedule was a benefit to the owners and operators who had a contract to move $25 million in goods out of Seattle,” the department said.
   In addition to the fine, the Greek companies were placed on five years of probation and required to have environmental compliance plans in place. The judge also ordered a $200,000 community service payment to be shared between the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the National Parks Foundation.
   Meanwhile, the two engineers who operated Gallia Graeca‘s equipment and falsified the log books were sentenced to short prison terms before returning to Greece.