Eurobulk Ordered to Pay $1.5M in Fines After Guilty Plea in MARPOL Case
Eurobulk, a Greek shipping company, has become the latest to plead guilty in the continuing U.S. enforcement efforts to prevent pollution from ships. The company pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Texas on Wednesday, January 29, and was ordered to pay a total of $1.5 million and serve a four-year probation.
“This outcome directly reflects our dedication to holding those who violate laws designed to prevent pollution of the marine environment accountable," said Rear Admiral David Barata, commander of the USGC’s Eighth District. “The Coast Guard and our partners remain resolute in our mission to protect our waters, and we encourage the public to continue reporting any suspicious activities as every report is essential in our ongoing effort to preserve the health of our marine ecosystems.”
The charges arose out of a United States port call in which a crew member of the Liberia-flagged bulker Good Heart (63,000 dwt) presented false records to the U.S. Coast Guard to conceal illegal transfers and discharges of oily bilge water from the vessel. The violations were discovered during a Port State inspection on April 23, 2023, in Corpus Christi, Texas when a whistleblower told the USCG about the illegal discharges.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on at least two occasions in April 2023, the chief engineer of the vessel, Christos Charitos, ordered lower ranking engine personnel to discharge oily waste overboard from vessel’s duct keel (a pipe that begins in the engine room and runs under the cargo holds) without using the oily water separator. In addition, the crew also flushed the oil content meter with fresh water to ensure the oil water separator would allow the illegal overboard discharges. The discharges were not recorded in the vessel’s oil record book.
The Good Heart’s former chief engineer, Charitos, age 72, pleaded guilty in September 2024. He admitted to tricking the oily water separator by connecting a fresh water line so that the oil content meter could not verify oil levels during the discharge, He also admitted to falsification of records and obstruction of the USCG by presenting the falsified log. Christos was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and complete a one-year term of unsupervised probation
Eurobulk admitted to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and falsification of records. The company was fined $1,125,000 and ordered to pay an additional $375,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.