Ship Manager Pleads Guilty and Agrees to $1.75M Fine in MARPOL Case
The U.S. Department of Justice filed the terms of a settlement, which involves a guilty plea by Eagle Ship Management, related to a 2022 oil dumping case off New Orleans that also saw the Chief Engineer of the vessel sentenced to jail. The incident was initially reported on social media by a crewmember and resulted in retaliation against the individual as well as efforts to conceal the MARPOL violation.
Under the terms of the plea, the company would pay a criminal fine of $1,750,000 and serve a four-year term of probation. The plea agreement still needs to be approved by the court, which has scheduled sentencing for October 16.
The Gannet Bulker (57,800 dwt, registered in the Marshall Islands) was at an anchorage near the Southwest Passage of the Port of New Orleans, near the mouth of the Mississippi River in March 2021. According to court papers, a repair operation to correct a problem with the discharge of clean ballast water resulted in engine room flooding. After the leak was controlled, Chief Engineer Kirill Kompanietes and a subordinate engineer dumped the oily bilge water overboard without using the oily-water separator and oil content monitor while the ship was still at an anchorage near the Southwest Passage off the Louisiana coast.
Prosecutors report the incident involved a total of 10,300 gallons of oily discharge. The Coast Guard launched its investigation after a crew member sent a message via social media on March 14, 2021. The obstructive acts included in the case cited retaliation against the whistleblower.
In pleading guilty, the company is admitting that its crew engaged in a variety of obstructive acts to conceal the internal flooding that was caused by a botched repair. Senior ship officers and crew lied to the Coast Guard and destroyed evidence, including a printout from the engine control room computer that contained key information. Additionally, senior ship officers created false and backdated personnel evaluations intended to discredit the whistleblower.
In addition to the guilty plea by the company, the chief engineer of the Gannet Bulker was prosecuted in a separate case and sentenced to serve a year and a day in prison for his role in the discharge of oil and obstructing justice.
Kompaniets pleaded guilty in August 2022. In addition to the dumping charge, he was also charged with obstruction of justice based on various efforts to conceal the illegal discharge. In a joint factual statement filed in Court with his guilty plea, Kompaniets admitted to making false statements to the Coast Guard that concealed the cause and nature of a hazardous condition, and concealing that the engine room of the vessel had flooded and that oil-contaminated bilge water had been discharged overboard. He also admitted to destroying the computer alarm printouts for the period of the illegal discharge that were sought by the Coast Guard, as well as holding meetings with subordinate crew members and directing them to make false statements to the Coast Guard. He falsified the Oil Record Book so that it failed to disclose the illegal discharge and directed subordinate engine room employees to delete all evidence from their cell phones in anticipation of the Coast Guard inspection. Furthermore, he also admitted to preparing a retaliatory document accusing the whistleblower of poor performance as part of an effort to discredit him.