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Corpus Christi, TX
A Greek shipping company has pleaded guilty to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and falsifying records, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
The charges arose out of a United States port call in April 2023 by the Good Heart in the port of Corpus Christi. A crew member of the Liberia-flagged Motor Vessel Good Heart presented false records to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to conceal illegal transfers and discharges of oily bilge water from the vessel.
The Good Heart’s former chief engineer, Greek national Christos Charitos, 72, previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced for an APPS charge for failing to record discharges in the vessel’s Oil Record Book (ORB). Charitos was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine.
According to court documents and statements made in court, the Good Heart is an ocean-going bulk carrier registered in Liberia that Eurobulk operated. On at least two occasions in April 2023, Charitos ordered lower ranking engine personnel to discharge the contents of the duct keel directly into the sea without using the Oily Water Separator (OWS). The discharges contained oil.
Eurobulk Ltd. admitted to violating APPS and falsification of records during the port call. U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos has now ordered the company to pay a criminal fine of $1.125 million. The company must also serve a four-year-term of probation during which it will be subject to an environmental compliance plan with a monitorship to ensure future compliance.
“It is crucial that we strive to eliminate threats to our waters through holding overseas corporations accountable,” said Ganjei. “Our office will continue to seek justice when foreign vessels fail to comply with the APPS and then seek to cover it up. The environmental harm inflicted and falsification of records merit the sentence imposed today.”
The U.S. Coast Guard’s Investigative Service (CGIS) investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Marck and Liesel Roscher and Senior Trial Attorney Kenneth E. Nelson of the Environmental Crimes Section prosecuted the case.
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Environmental Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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