Norwegian shipowner pays $3.5 million fine for dumping waste oil
Hoegh Fleet Services A/S, a Norwegian ocean carrier, has been ordered by a U.S. district court judge to pay $3.5 million for seven felony charges relating to the falsification of records to conceal the intentional dumping of waste oil in the ocean.
Judge Ronald B. Leighton also ordered Hoegh Fleet Services to develop and implement a comprehensive environmental plan for its fleet of 38 vessels that call at U.S. ports, and serve four years on probation. The court said $1.6 million of the criminal fine will be used to fund environmental projects to preserve ecosystems adjoining the coastlines of Washington and California.
Leighton granted a request from U.S. attorneys in Washington State and California to give a $300,000 whistleblower award to a crew member on board the 'Hoegh Minerva' who had secretly passed a note to U.S. Coast Guard inspectors about the ship's illegal pollution activities.
In September 2003, Vincent Genovana, second engineer on the ship, pleaded guilty to falsifying documents and covering up evidence in order to obstruct a Coast Guard investigation. According to a plea agreement and other court records, Genovana directed another crewmember on board the 'Hoegh Minerva' to fabricate a bypass pipe that was fitted into the existing vessel piping system for the oil water separator. Crewmembers referred to the bypass tube as 'the magic pipe.' It allowed the crew to pump inadequately treated oil-contaminated wastewater directly overboard into the ocean. The pipe remained installed for several days at a time while the vessel was at sea.
Genovana, who agreed to cooperate with the U.S. government in its investigation of Hoegh Fleet Services, was sentenced to a 30-day prison term and two years of supervised release.