Italian Shipper, Engineer Sentenced for Oily Ship Discharges
An Italian shipping company and one of its ship chief engineers were sentenced in U.S. District Court, Mobile, Ala., for deliberately falsifying records to conceal discharges of oily wastewater from the ship directly into the sea, the Justice Department said. Giusseppe Bottiglieri Shipping Company was sentenced by Judge Ginny Granade to pay a $1 million criminal fine, serve four years of probation, and make a $300,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The company must also fund and implement a comprehensive environmental compliance plan during the term of probation. Chief Engineer Vito La Forgia was sentenced by Judge Granade to one month in jail. The company pleaded guilty July 11 to failing to properly maintain an oil record book as required by federal and international law. Vito La Forgia, the ship's chief engineer, pleaded guilty July 12 to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.
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Separately, a federal jury in Washington, D.C., returned guilty verdicts against Sanford Ltd., a New Zealand fishing company, on six counts of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS). The jury also found a company employee guilty of two other charges. Judge Beryl Howell scheduled sentencing for Nov. 16. Sanford faces a maximum fine of $3 million. Sanford's primary chief engineer, James Pogue, 52, faces up to up to 20 years for obstruction of justice and six years for knowingly failing to maintain an accurate oil record book. In July 2011, the U.S. Coast Guard conducted a Port State Control examination on the Fishing Vessel San Nikunau when the vessel entered port in Pago Pago, American Samoa. The examination revealed that the vessel had been making false entries and omissions in its oil record book that vessels are required to maintain accurately in order to account for their handling of oil waste generated by the vessel.