A 46-year-old Philippine citizen, Anselmo Capillanes, has been sentenced to two years’ probation and ordered to pay a $15,000 fine for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.
Capillanes served as the second engineer on the 26,328-gross-ton oil tanker M/T Stolt Facto from September 22, 2012, until January 16, 2013. He was responsible for the operation of the Oil Water Separator, which detects and prevents excessive concentrations of oil in the vessel’s bilge water from being discharged overboard.
However, starting in October 2012, Capillanes directed the engine room crew to bypass the Oil Water Separator and pump the contents of the bilge wells and bilge holding tank into the sewage holding tank, which was then discharged into the ocean. The transfers and discharges were not recorded in the M/T Stolt Facto’s Oil Record Book.
Capillanes admitted in court documents that he ran freshwater or seawater through the Oil Water Separator to get false readings from the White Box, the data recorder on the Oil Water Separator. This was done to conceal that not all of the ship’s oily waste water was properly treated before being dumped overboard.
The M/T Stolt Facto entered the waters of the United States in the Eastern District of Louisiana on January 15, 2013, with the inaccurate Oil Record Book onboard. The United States Coast Guard boarded the vessel and discovered the false records.
Rear Admiral Kevin S. Cook, Eighth Coast Guard District Commander, praised the professionalism and dedication of the Coast Guard Sector New Orleans, the Coast Guard Investigative Service, and the prosecution team for investigating and prosecuting the case.
The case was investigated by the United States Coast Guard, and the case was prosecuted by Emily Greenfield.
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Key Facts
- State: Louisiana
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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