Japanese ship owner fined in “magic pipe” case
Japanese corporation Hiong Guan Navegacion Japan Co. Ltd. was sentenced to three years probation and fined $1.75 million for conspiring to falsify and falsifying environmental compliance records.Hiong Guan was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday in Tampa.
On Nov. 20, 2008, Hiong Guan pleaded guilty to falsifying the “Oil Record Book” for its ship the Balsa-62. Federal and international law requires that all ships properly dispose of oily water and sludge by processing it through an oily-water separator and burning the sludge in the ship's incinerator to avoid polluting ocean waters. Federal law also requires all ships traveling in U.S. waters to accurately record each disposal of oily water or sludge in an Oil Record Book, and to have the book available for inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard.
According to court documents, from spring 2007 through February 2008, Francisco Bagatela, chief engineer of the Balsa-62, used a bypass pipe, which is referred to as a “magic pipe,” to circumvent the pollution prevention equipment on board the ship and dump oily water and sludge directly overboard and into the ocean about twice a month.
