Marine Log - April 2008 - (Page 10)

Update Five arrested for intoxication on ship A master and four of his crew members were arrested for improper operation of the Maltese-flagged M/V Ocean Victory, after allegedly leaving the helm not properly manned due to the intoxication of several crew members, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Court documents say that three Maryland pilots boarded the ship to assist the crew in transit from the Port of Baltimore. The pilots allege that the master and a crew member assigned as the helmsman left the wheelhouse unattended after the ship passed under the Bay Bridge. The master is charged with failing to ensure that the wheelhouse was constantly manned and failing to notify the U.S. Coast Guard that the ship did not meet minimum manning requirements due to the intoxication of four crew members; and making false statements. The other four crew are charged with operating the ship while intoxicated. INLAND • COASTAL • OFFSHORE • DEEPSEA Guilty plea in ‘magic pipe’ case ccording to the U.S. Department of Justice, Patrick Brown, the former chief engineer of the M/V Fidelio, a car-carrier ship, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and making a false statement in the ship’s Oil Record Book. The criminal charges are related to the alleged deliberate discharge of oil-contaminated bilge waste through a “magic pipe.” Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, Ronald J. Tenpas, stated, “The defendant was involved in the deliberate overboard discharge of oilcontaminated bilge waste into the ocean for multiple A years and lied to the Coast Guard to cover up his illegal actions.” Brown later admitted that he used a bypass pipe to deliberately discharge bilge waste from 1994 though March 2003. The Coast Guard stated that the ship’s Oil Record Book contained false information in order to conceal the illegal discharges. The discharges were made without the use of an oily water separator which is a required pollution prevention device. Brown was employed by Pacific Gulf Marine Inc., (PGM), Gretna, La. PGM pleaded guilty to its role in discharging thousands of gallons of oil-contaminated bilge waste from four car- carrier ships and was sentenced last year to pay $1million in fines and $500,000 in community service. PGM will also serve three years of probation where it will be audited by an outside firm. International and U.S. law prohibit the discharge of waste containing more than 15 parts per million oil and without treatment by an oil water separator and oil sensing equipment. U.S. law also requires that any overboard discharges be recorded in an oil record book. Brown is the fifth chief engineer to plead guilty or to be convicted by a jury during these investigations. 10 MARINE LOG APRIL 2008 www.marinelog.com http://www.worldwidemetric.com http://www.worldwidemetric.com http://www.marinelog.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marine Log - April 2008

Marine Log - April 2008 Contents Editorial Second Thoughts Update Inside Washington Offshore Vessels Evolve to Meet Subsea Demands Picking the Right Floaters for Deepwater Tugs: The Good Times Roll, But for How Long? Interactive TV at Sea Jo-Kell's Suzan Kelly Tugs & Barges Exhibitors Preview Beyond Imagination Tech News Newsmakers Contracts Events Website Directory Infodirect ML Marketplace Last Page

Marine Log - April 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.