DSD Shipping Found Guilty On MARPOL Charges
Norwegian firm DSD Shipping and three crew of its Singapore-flagged Aframax tanker Stavanger Blossom have been found guilty of MARPOL violations by an American federal court.
Prosecutors alleged that DSD Shipping and the crew of the Stavanger Blossom were aware that the vessel's oily water separator was inoperable. As evidence they presented an internal corporate memo describing the separator's inoperability and recommending that it be repaired lest employees “get caught for polluting.”
The prosecution claimed that as a result, the Stavanger Blossom had discharged 20,000 gallons of oily waste at sea while en route to Mobile, Alabama.
Separately, they claimed that crew had concealed bags of fuel oil sludge from port authorities in Mexico, then discharged the sludge at sea. The charges alleged that company employees falsified the ship's Oil Record Book to conceal the pollution violations.
The firm and crewmembers Bo Gao, Xiaobing Chen, and Xin Zhong were indicted in April on eight charges stemming from these allegations, including failure to maintain an accurate Oil Record Book (required by MARPOL), conspiracy to defraud the government, obstruction of justice, and use of intimidation or force against witnesses.
On November 10, a jury trial found DSD Shipping guilty on all charges except for two counts of obstruction of justice; convictions varied for the individual crew defendants but all were found guilty on multiple charges. An additional DSD employee, Paul Dancu, pled guilty in October.
DSD could face a fine of up to $50,000 per charge at sentencing. The employee defendants face the possibility of up to two decades in prison for obstruction of justice.
The defense had argued that the United States did not have the authority to prosecute MARPOL violations on foreign-flagged vessels outside of its territorial waters. In a statement, DSD said that the charges were “unjust and misguided,” and added that the company is considering an appeal.
Stavanger-based DSD Shipping is one of the oldest shipping companies in Norway and operates eight vessels, including four Aframax tankers.