A Texas-based tank vessel operator and its master have been convicted of maintaining false and incomplete records relating to the discharge of oil and garbage from a tanker operating off the coast of Texas.
Sea World Management & Trading, Inc. and Edmon Fajardo, the master of the tank vessel Sea Faith, pleaded guilty to two felony violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, 33 U.S.C. § 1908(a), for failing to accurately maintain the Sea Faith’s Oil Record Book and Garbage Record Book.
According to court documents, on five different occasions between March 10, 2017, and March 18, 2017, Fajardo ordered crew members to illegally discharge oily waste from various locations of the vessel’s cargo/deck spaces. These oily waste discharges bypassed the use of the vessel’s required oil discharge monitoring equipment and were done while the vessel was in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
The defendants further admitted that on March 10, 2017, and March 15, 2017, Fajardo ordered crew members to throw plastics, empty steel drums, oily rags, batteries, and empty paint cans directly overboard into the ocean. None of these garbage discharges were recorded as required in the vessel’s Garbage Record Book.
As part of the plea agreement, Sea World Management & Trading, Inc. will pay a total fine of $2.25 million and serve a 3-year term of probation during which all vessels operated by the company and calling on U.S. ports will be required to implement a robust Environmental Compliance Plan.
Fajardo was sentenced to six months incarceration to be followed by two years supervised release and a $2,000 fine.
The cases were investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, and Environmental Protection Agency-Criminal Investigation Division. The cases were prosecuted by Trial Attorney Stephen Da Ponte of the Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney-In-Charge Julie K. Hampton.
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Environmental Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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