A tanker captain has been jailed and its operators fined over illegal oil-waste dumping off the US.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) said in a statement that senior managers at Prive Overseas Marine in Dubai and Turkey’s Prive Shipping Denizcilik Ticaret knew what was going on as the 51,000-dwt PS Dream (built 2006) approached New Orleans in January 2023.
The two companies were sentenced in federal court in New Orleans to pay a $2m criminal penalty and complete four years of probation.
They pleaded guilty in May to charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and breaching the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.
Turkish master Abdurrahman Korkmaz was jailed for eight months for violating the US law and for obstructing the US Coast Guard’s investigation.
The DoJ said senior corporate managers at the operating companies were aware that Korkmaz had arranged to discharge oil-contaminated waste from a residual tank on deck into the sea.
“The captain ordered the crew to pump the waste overboard and clean the tank with soap. The seafarers rigged a portable pump to empty the contents overboard over three days,” the statement added.
The defendants falsified the vessel’s oil record book by omitting the discharge, the DoJ said.
But one of the crew members alerted the Coast Guard and shared videos of the discharge and resulting oil sheen.
When the tanker arrived in Louisiana, another crew member came forward and gave the Coast Guard a recording of an officer discussing the discharge.
Dumped overboard
The falsified logs, presented to the Coast Guard during its inspection, were intended to conceal the fact that the crew had dumped oil-contaminated waste overboard, the DoJ said.
“Corporate representatives at Prive Shipping were aware that the oil-contaminated waste remained in the tank and were informed by the ship’s master that it had been dumped overboard,” the department added.
The $2m criminal penalty includes $500,000 in organisational community service payments to fund various maritime environmental projects in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
As a condition of probation, the firms must also adhere to an environmental compliance plan mandating audit, safety and inspection requirements over the next four years.
In June, the DoJ said Korkmaz, 37, had admitted concealing his actions from the Coast Guard.
He acknowledged presenting oil record books knowing they omitted information about discharging oily waste to the ocean before arriving in the US, the DoJ statement read.
Prime Overseas has been contacted for comment.
