Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published by Brian Gicheru Kinyua

Published by The Maritime Executive

Published May 25, 2022 1:39 PM by The Maritime Executive

A Greek shipowner and operator of bulker are the latest in a series of prosecutions announced by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Justice in New Orleans, Louisiana. In the latest case, resulting from a routine inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard, the ship’s owner and operators are facing a $2 million fine after pleading guilty to charges relating to environmental and safety crimes in the U.S.

The Department of Justice reported that Empire Bulkers and Joanna Maritime will each be fined $1 million after pleading guilty to deliberately tampering with pollution prevention equipment causing oil pollution and failing to report hazardous conditions. In addition to the fines, the proposed plea agreement which still requires court approval would also include four years of probation under an environmental compliance plan that would include independent ship audits and a court-appointed monitor.

The U.S. Coast Guard discovered the violations during a routine port inspection of the 33,717 dwt bulker Joanna in March 2021. The vessel, built in 2010 and registered in the Marshall Islands, is owned by Joanna Maritime and managed by Empire Bulkers of Greece.

“Deliberate violation of environmental and safety laws poses a serious threat to U.S. ports and waters, as well as to those working on ships,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

The U.S. Coast Guard conducted a routine inspection of the bulker while it was in New Orleans between March 6 and 11, 2021. While the inspectors were aboard on March 11, one of them noticed that a valve handle used to sample the oil content of overboard discharges was out of position. On closer examination, they discovered that a metal piece had been welded inside enabled overboard discharges to occur while the sample being evaluated by the oil content monitor was being diluted with fresh water.

In pleading guilty, the two companies further admitted to knowingly falsifying the ship’s oil record book, a required log, to conceal the overboard discharges of oil contaminated waste. The discharge entries in the oil record book had been co-signed by an engineer that did not have anything to do with the operations or have knowledge of their accuracy. The Coast Guard noted in the court papers that while overboard discharges are permissible if they are processed through an oily water separator and measured by the oil content monitor, the entries made in the oil record book relating to overboard discharges and presented to the Coast Guard falsely indicated that discharges had occurred through the proper equipment.

After the Coast Guard was on the vessel, ship representatives sought permission to maneuver from the Bonnet Carre Anchorage to the CCI Buoys further upriver where cargo operations were scheduled to take place. Coast Guard inspectors traveling on the ship during the voyage noticed drops of oil in the engine room which lead them to further safety hazards unreported during the inspection.

The Coast Guard followed the trail of oil to an area near the purifier room. When they looked inside the purifier room, the Coast Guard discovered that the discharge line from the pressure relief valves had been disconnected and crimped closed disabling both pressure relief valves. According to the Coast Guard, the safety relief valves on the fuel oil heaters serve a critical safety function because they allow pressure to be released and oil diverted to a waste oil tank.

In announcing the lead agreement, prosecutors said that these corporations knowingly engaged in dangerous and deceitful misconduct that they believed warrants robust enforcement of the law. Going forward they said the companies would be under close supervision. 

News of this case comes just a week after the same offices also reported that a chief engineer of a large commercial bulk carrier pleaded guilty 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. The two incidents happened within days of each other both at the Port of New Orleans.  

Published Jun 17, 2022 10:06 PM by The Maritime Executive

The recently formed sailing cruise line Tradewind Voyages has announced that it is suspending new bookings and may have to cancel voyages because of sanctions-related disruption to its financing.   The line's owner, DIV Group, has a financing relationship with the German division of VTB Bank. The Russian state-owned banker has been hit hard by European and U.S. sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. Among other things, this means that VTB's German subsidiary has been cut off from its Russian parent...

Published Jun 17, 2022 7:58 PM by The Maritime Executive

  Speaking with world leaders at the third virtual Major Economies Forum President Joe Biden redoubled the Unites States’ commitment to lead in the efforts to address climate security and in the process also improve energy security. Speaking with representatives from countries that collectively make up approximately 80 percent of global economic output, the president outlined a series of new initiatives and investments including the launch of the Green Shipping Challenge. The program was reported to be the largest world...

Published Jun 17, 2022 7:47 PM by Brian Gicheru Kinyua

Although trade volumes are cooling, the appetite by major ocean carriers for new ship orders continue to soar. Ocean freight consultancy Alphaliner recently estimated that about 900 ships totaling 6.8 million TEU are due to be built in top-tier yards around the world. This orderbook is bigger than the combined existing fleets of Cosco, Hapag- Lloyd and Evergreen, the world’s fourth, fifth and sixth largest ocean carriers, respectively. Most of these newbuilds are expected to enter service in 2023 and...

Published Jun 17, 2022 7:26 PM by The Maritime Executive

On Friday, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Thetis offloaded nearly $100 million worth of cocaine at a pier in Miami, Florida, adding to the service's non-stop stream of major drug busts.  The 5,300-pound delivery came from multiple interdictions in the international waters of the Caribbean. The contributing vessels included the USCGC Donald Horsley, as well as the Royal Netherlands Navy patrol ships HNLMS Friesland and HNLMS Groningen.  “Interdicting drug traffickers on the open ocean is challenging work and every interdiction...

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