2010 Sep 06

Chief engineer who covered up cargo ship's oil dumping sentenced to probation

 A cargo ship engineer who ordered the dumping of oil-containing waste into the ocean was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

Dimitrios Dimitrakis, chief engineer of the cargo ship M/V New Fortune, was sentenced to three years probation, a $5,000 fine and a $100 special assessment for failing to maintain an Oil Record Book.

The sentencing stems from the overboard disposal of oil residue, sludge, oil and oily mixtures into the ocean and Dimitrakis's efforts to conceal the discharges by falsifying onboard records, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

According to court documents, the ship was boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard for a routine inspection in February after it traveled from South Korea to the Port of Oakland.

Prosecutors said inspectors found that the crew had been using a so-called "magic hose" to dispose of the vessel's oil-containing waste overboard, bypassing the vessel's pollution prevention equipment.

According to the U.S. Attorney's office, further investigation by the Coast Guard and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed waste oil in the overboard piping of New Fortune.

The investigation also uncovered evidence of false entries made in the vessel's Oil Record Book, a document required by MARPOL, which is a treaty ratified and implemented by the United States and other countries.

MARPOL, which stands for marine pollution, requires that all transfers of sludge, oil-contaminated bilge water, and overboard discharges of bilge water be fully and accurately recorded in the Oil Record Book.

Greek shipping company Transmar Shipping Co., S.A., the operator of the New Fortune, was sentenced last month to pay a $750,000 fine and an additional community service payment of $100,000. The company was also ordered to follow an environmental compliance plan.

Volodymyr Dombrovskyy, the cargo ship's second engineer who works under Dimitrakis, was sentenced to two years probation, a $500 fine and a $100 special assessment. Dombrovskyy had pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the failure to maintain the book.

The New Fortune is a 26,136-gross-ton ocean-going bulk cargo ship registered in the Marshall Islands.

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