In yet another Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (“APPS”) case, Frank Coe, the former chief engineer of the M/V Fidelio (renamed the M/V Patriot) pleaded guilty today to conspiracy and violating APPS. The charges related to the deliberate discharge of oil-contaminated bilge waste through a “magic pipe” that bypassed required pollution prevention equipment, according to the DOJ press release.
Coe was employed by Pacific Gulf Marine Inc. (“PGM”), a vessel operator based in Gretna, Louisiana. PGM had previously pleaded guilty to its role in deliberately discharging hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil-contaminated bilge waste from four of its giant car-carrier ships, including the Fidelio. PGM was sentenced on January 24, 2007, and ordered to pay $1,000,000.00 in criminal fines and $500,000.00 in community service. PGM will also serve three years of probation under the terms of an environmental compliance plan which will be audited by a court-appointed monitor.
During a March 29, 2003, inspection, Coast Guard inspectors in Baltimore lifted a deck plate and found a permanently installed bypass pipe on the Fidelio that was part of the ship’s original construction. The Coast Guard directed the removal of the bypass pipe (known in the maritime industry as a “magic pipe”) and found that it was filled with black oil. Coe was the Chief Engineer of the ship on that day and denied any knowledge of the existence or use of the bypass although it had been used since 1998. The ship’s oil record book, a required log in which all overboard discharges must be recorded, had apparently been falsified to conceal illegal discharges made without the use of an oily water separator.
Engine room operations on board large ocean-going vessels generate large amounts of waste oil and oil-contaminated bilge waste. International and United States law prohibits the discharge of waste containing more than 15 parts per million oil without treatment by an oil water separator and oil sensing equipment. See MARPOL Convention (Annex I) (a treaty signed by more than 135 countries representing approximately 97.5 % of the world’s commercial tonnage and implemented into United States law by the APPS). The law requires that overboard discharges be recorded in an oil record book.
Coe is the third chief engineer to plead guilty in the continuing investigation. Deniz Sharpe, who served as chief engineer of the M/V Fidelio after Coe, pleaded guilty on March 7, 2007, to violating the APPS involving continuing illegal conduct after the Coast Guard had removed the bypass pipe from the ship. Stephen Karas, the former chief engineer of the M/V Tanabata (renamed the M/V Resolve) pleaded guilty to conspiracy and making false statements on March 29, 2007.
More later.
As always, feel free to call me or e-mail me with any questions at walter.james@jamespllc.com.
WDJiii