Shipping Companies Fined for Deliberately Leaking Oil into Gulf, and then Concealing It
Two shipping companies will pay up for deliberately dumping oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and then trying to cover it up.
The incident involved the motor tanker P/S Dream. It happened off the coast of Louisiana in January 2023.
The P/S Dream’s owners, Prive Overseas Marine LLC (based in Dubai) and Prive Shipping Denizcilik Ticaret (based in Turkey), were ordered to pay a $2 million fine and complete four years of probation, after being sentenced in federal court in New Orleans. As part of the probation, the companies must adhere to an environmental compliance plan.
The companies pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS).
The sentencing comes a few weeks after the P/S Dream’s captain, Abdurrahman Korkmaz, was sentenced to eight months in prison for an APPS offense and obstructing the U.S. Coast Guard’s investigation. Korkmaz pleaded guilty in June.
Crew Members Blow Whistle
According to court documents, senior managers at the companies were aware that Korkmaz planned to discharge oil-contaminated waste from a residual tank into the ocean. The captain ordered the crew to pump the waste overboard and clean the tank with soap.
However, one of the crew members blew the whistle, alerting the U.S. Coast Guard. That crew member shared videos of the discharge and the resulting oil sheen. When the ship arrived in Louisiana, another crew member gave the Coast Guard a recording of a ship officer discussing the discharge.
The defendants also falsified the vessel’s oil record book by omitting the discharge, to conceal a violation of an international treaty regulating oil pollution from ships.
The $2 million criminal penalty includes $500,000 in organizational community service payments that will fund various maritime environmental projects in the Eastern District of Louisiana. Those projects will be managed by the congressionally established National Fish & Wildlife Foundation.
The Coast Guard Investigative Service and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Criminal Investigation Division investigated the case with assistance from Coast Guard Sector New Orleans.