New England ship company admits to dumping oil waste in Gulf of Mexico
On Tuesday, company officials of Eagle Ship Management LLC pleaded guilty to violations of the 1980 Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and was given a fine of more than $1.7 million.
"Today's announcement sends a clear message intended to deter deliberate pollution," stated Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson for Louisiana's Eastern District. "This office will continue to work with our agency partners to enforce the laws that were designed to protect U.S. ports and waters."
In addition, the Stamford-based ESM would be ordered to serve a four-year probation term to include an external company audit by an independent source if court-approved.
The U.S. Coast Guard initiated its investigation after a crew member on the foreign-flagged bulk vessel "Gannet Bulker" sent it a tip on social media in March 2021 soon after the purported incident near the Mississippi River's mouth, according to court documents.
ESM admitted in its guilty plea that Gannet ship officers "engaged in a variety of obstructive acts to conceal the internal flooding that was caused by a botched repair."
Records show the unidentified crewman said the Gannet's engine room flooded and that the ship's oil-contaminated bilge pumper offloaded the toxic waste overnight.
Flooded bilges can pose a number of dangers to a ship and its crew.
Federal officials noted that the incident took place without required safety equipment or proper bookkeeping.
"The criminal conduct involved here was serious, including intentional pollution and a deliberate coverup," said Acting Assistant U.S. Attorney General Adam Gustafson of DOJ's environment and natural resources division.
Meanwhile, the ship's unidentified captain was prosecuted and later sentence to a year and a day behind bars for his role in the incident.
Officials stated that among the obstructive acts was retaliation against a whistleblower with a known identity to the company. They added that Gannet's senior officer and other crew members lied to Coast Guard officials, destroyed control room information as evidence and "created false and backdated personnel evaluations intended to discredit the whistleblower."
It's the second known similar instance in recent years of a ship offloading oil into the waters off the coast of New Orleans.
In September, the captain of a Turkish ship was given eight months in prison and his company fined $2 million after crew, likewise, rid their carrier of oil waste into open water.
Sentencing for Connecticut's Eagle Ship Management is scheduled for October 16.
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