V.Ships pleaded guilty yesterday at a court in Texas to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and was sentenced to pay a $2m fine. V.Ships admitted that oily bilge water and oily waste was discharged from the Swift Winchester, a chemical tanker, and the discharges were omitted from the oil record book.
Between February 2022 and August 2022, a hose was connected between the incinerator waste oil tank and the sewage holding tank on the Swift Winchester. This allowed oily waste to transfer into the sewage holding tank and then to be discharged directly into the sea, bypassing required pollution prevention equipment. A low-ranking engine crewmember reported this to a superintendent at V.Ships. The superintendent investigated the matter and discovered what appeared to be oil in the sewage tank. V.Ships dismissed the chief engineer. In August 2022, the new chief engineer ordered the engine crew to clean the oil water separator (OWS) filter. The engine crew took the filter onto the deck and hosed it down with a degreaser and the oily waste washed directly overboard through a scupper.
Coast Guard members from Port Arthur conducted an examination, during which an engine room crewmember disclosed the discharges and provided photographic and video evidence documenting the illegal discharges.
“Dumping oil-contaminated waste into the waters around our ports and coasts violates the law and poses an unnecessary health and environmental hazard,” said acting assistant attorney general Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “The crew took pains to hide their illegal activity by knowingly keeping inaccurate records. We will not turn a blind eye to this kind of irresponsible and fraudulent activity.”
