Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by Brian Gicheru Kinyua

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published May 20, 2022 6:17 PM by The Maritime Executive

The chief engineer of a large commercial bulk carrier pleaded guilty this week in U.S. federal court to two felony counts of deliberately discharging oily water near New Orleans and lying to the U.S. Coast Guard during the investigation into the oil spill. Another crewmember aboard the vessel reported the incident via social media to the Coast Guard and was later subjected to retaliatory actions by the chief engineer.

“The intentional pollution of U.S. waters and the deliberate effort to cover up the crime are extremely serious criminal offenses that will not be tolerated,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Prosecutions such as this one should send a clear message to those that would violate the law and endanger our precious natural resources.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana said the incident took place on March 13-14, 2021 when an unnamed bulk carrier registered in the Marshall Islands was anchored near the South West Passage off the Louisiana coast. They declined to name the vessel saying the investigation is continuing but reported that the chief engineer, a Russian citizen named Kirill Kompaniets pleaded guilty on May 18.

According to papers filed in Court, repair operations were underway to correct a problem with the discharge of clean ballast water when a valve burst and the engine room flooded. After the leak had been controlled, Kompaniets and another engineer they charged deliberately dumped the oil-contaminated water in the bilges overboard resulting in the release of approximately 10,000 gallons of oil-contaminated bilge off the coast of New Orleans. The ship’s required pollution prevention equipment – an oily-water separator and oil content monitor – were not used, and the discharge was not recorded in the required Oil Record Book.

The chief engine was also charged with obstruction of justice based on various efforts to conceal the illegal discharge. The Coast Guard said the illegal activity was first reported by another engineer.

As part of the guilty plea, Kompaniets admitted to making false statements to the Coast Guard as well as destroying evidence. He reportedly removed printouts from the computer alarm sought by the Coast Guard from the time of the illegal discharge and made false statements in the Oil Record Book that failed to disclose the illegal discharge.

After the incident occurred, the chief engineer further held meetings with subordinate crewmembers and directed them to make false statements to the Coast Guard as well as directing others in the engine room to delete all evidence from their cell phones in anticipation of the Coast Guard inspection. 

After he learned of the whistleblower contacting USCG, the chief engineer also admitted to preparing a retaliatory document accusing the whistleblower of poor performance as part of an effort to discredit him.

“The defendant in this case deliberately disregarded procedures designed to protect the environment from contaminants and then attempted to hide his actions,” said U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans. “Today’s announcement emphasizes that our office along with our federal partners are committed to holding accountable all parties whose criminality jeopardizes our environment and places the public and the ecosystem at risk.”

The investigation is ongoing, but neither the shipping company nor the vessel have been named in the case. Kompaniets is scheduled to be sentenced on September 1.

Published Jun 10, 2022 8:33 PM by The Maritime Executive

The Indian government on Thursday announced the first steps in the development of offshore wind energy outlining a strategy and timetable for commencing auctions. The first ever auctions are expected in the next three to four months with an initial strategy mapped out for the development of at least 10 to 12 GW offshore power generation. “During the meeting, transmission and evacuation infrastructure required for offshore wind projects of total capacity 10 GW off the coasts of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu,...

Published Jun 10, 2022 8:14 PM by Brian Gicheru Kinyua

Last Friday marked the 100th day since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. When the war started, the nature and extent of the impacts to follow were unclear. Although Russia hoped it would overthrow Ukraine’s government within few days of invasion, the grand scheme of the war’s plan seem to have changed/ Russia is now pursuing smaller goals than it had initially, as it now appears to be zeroing in on the Donbas region, where Russian separatists have been fighting...

Published Jun 10, 2022 8:14 PM by The Maritime Executive

As countries around the world implement ambitious environmental goals, adoption of renewable energy is setting new records. New research from The Renewables Consulting Group (RCG), an ERM Group company, finds that global offshore wind development capacity grew by a whopping 89 percent in 2021. About 200 GW  of new offshore wind projects were announced in established markets like the UK and Netherlands and new markets such as Italy and Australia. Surprisingly, according to the RCG’s 2021 Global Offshore Wind Annual Report,...

Published Jun 10, 2022 7:34 PM by The Maritime Executive

Ports in both Germany and South Korea were impacted by strikes as workers respond to the increasing pressures of global inflation and two years of hardships during the pandemic. While the strike by port workers in Germany was not expected to last, but instead was a “warning” by the union during protracted labor negotiations, a strike by truck drivers in South Korea is bringing port operations to a halt and quickly impacting the major industrial and manufacturing operations.  All of...

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