Oil sludge poured into the pristine waters of the South Pacific while Pacific Breeze Fisheries covered its tracks with lies and falsified documents. The American tuna fishing company, tied to the F/V Pacific Breeze, was convicted and sentenced today for multiple federal crimes, including illegal oil discharges near American Samoa and maintaining false records, the Department of Justice announced.
Pacific Breeze Fisheries admitted that its engineers dumped oily bilge water directly into the ocean on at least two occasions—once in 2014 and again in 2015—before docking in Pago Pago to unload tuna. The discharges were made without using mandatory pollution prevention equipment, a direct violation of international maritime law enforced by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The company also admitted to systematically falsifying its Oil Record Book between October 2013 and July 2015. Senior engineers failed to log the transfer and disposal of oil waste, rendering tons of sludge, waste oil, and bilge water unaccounted for. These records are critical—Coast Guard inspectors rely on them to detect illegal dumping at sea.
Pleading guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan in the District of Columbia, Pacific Breeze Fisheries accepted responsibility for four felony violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships. As part of the plea deal, the company will pay a $1.6 million criminal fine and an additional $400,000 in community service payments to the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa.
Though Pacific Breeze Fisheries no longer operates active vessels, it must implement a strict environmental compliance plan if it ever resumes operations. The crackdown follows a broader investigation into maritime pollution in U.S. territories, where enforcement has historically been lax despite heavy shipping traffic.
On October 25, Jeon Seon Han, the former Chief Engineer of the F/V Pacific Breeze, pleaded guilty in the District of Hawaii to obstructing a U.S. Coast Guard inspection in American Samoa. Han admitted to lying about sludge disposal and ordering the dismantling of an illegal discharge system before inspectors boarded. His sentencing is scheduled for February 2017. The case was investigated by U.S. Coast Guard personnel across American Samoa, Honolulu, and Washington, D.C., and prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Kenneth E. Nelson, Trial Attorney Brendan Selby, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Frederick W. Yette.
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Key Facts
- State: Washington DC
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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