Portline Bulk International must pay a $1.5m fine for using a "magic pipe" to illegally dump oily bilge water overboard and falsifying records to conceal the evidence.
The Portugese bulker operator's engineering team bypassed a supramax's oily water separator on numerous occasions with a yellow plastic hose known as a "magic pipe," according to US Department of Justice (DOJ).
The company was charged with one count of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and one count of obstruction, according to documents filed in South Carolina federal court.
