• News

Tanker operator fined $2 million in pollution case

Written by Marine Log Staff
Exam scam text fixing case has kept courts buy

Limassol, Cyprus, headquartered Interorient Marine Services Limited has been fined $2 million and sentenced to four years probation after being convicted February 13 in the Western District of Louisiana, for maintaining false and incomplete records relating to the discharge of oil from the 50,250 dwt, Marshall Islands flagged tank vessel Ridgebury Alexandra Z.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Interorient Marine Services admitted that oil cargo residues and oily bilge water were illegally dumped from the Ridgebury Alexandra Z directly into the ocean without being properly processed through required pollution prevention equipment.

The company also admitted that false entries were made in the vessel’s Oil Record Book to conceal the illegal dumping. Specifically, senior ship officers employed by Interorient Marine Services discharged oily waste into the ocean by flushing the vessel’s pollution prevention equipment sensor with fresh water. This flushing of the sensor tricked the system into detecting a much lower effluent oil content than what was actually being discharged. These senior officers then falsified the vessel’s Oil Record Book, recording that 87,705 gallons of oily wastewater had been discharged properly through the pollution prevention equipment, when in fact they knew that this pollution prevention equipment had been tampered with.

“By illegally dumping oily waste into the ocean, Interorient intentionally violated federal law that protects valuable marine resources and wildlife,” said Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark of the Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This conviction shows that corporations and individuals that willfully flout our nation’s environmental laws will be held accountable by criminal prosecution.”

Interorient Marine Services Limited pleaded guilty to a felony violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, 33 U.S.C. § 1908(a), for failing to accurately maintain the Ridgebury Alexandra Z‘s Oil Record Book. Under the terms of the plea agreement, the company will pay a total fine of $2 million and serve a 4-year term of probation, during which all vessels operated by the company and calling on U.S. ports will be required to implement a robust Environmental Compliance Plan.

The vessel’s captain, Vjaceslavs Birzakovs, was charged in a six-count indictment by a Grand Jury in the Western District of Louisiana on Nov. 29, 2018, for his involvement in this case. The indictment alleges that Birzakovs directed circumvention of the vessel’s pollution prevention equipment, falsified records, obstructed justice, made false statements, and conspired with other crewmembers to falsify the vessel’s Oil Record Book and to obstruct the U.S. Coast Guard’s enforcement of the law in conjunction with the illegal discharges from the Ridgebury Alexandra Z.

Categories: News Tags: