Italian carrier to pay $2.75 million environmental fine

Carbofin S.p.A. was sentenced to pay a criminal penalty of $2.75 million for knowingly falsifying the oil record book for its ship “Marigola.”

   Italian vessel operator Carbofin S.p.A. was sentenced to pay a criminal penalty of $2.75 million for knowingly falsifying the oil record book for its ship, Marigola, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, the U.S. Justice Department said.
   From that criminal penalty, $600,000 will be paid to the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation for the benefit of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.  
   Between 2013 and 2014, on numerous voyages, senior officers of the Marigola directed the installation and use of a so-called “magic hose” to dispose of sludge, waste oil and oil-contaminated bilge water directly into the sea, bypassing required pollution prevention equipment.  
   On April 16, 2014, the vessel called on the Port of Tampa in Florida to load anhydrous ammonia. Coast Guard inspectors there boarded the vessel and were approached by two junior engineers who showed them a video of the magic hose connected between piping leading to the bilge tank and the vessel’s boiler blow down valve. The inspectors had the valve removed and an oily black substance was discovered.
   Chief Engineer Carmelo Giano and Second Engineer Alessandro Messore had previously pleaded guilty in U.S. court and were sentenced for their role in ordering the use of the magic hose to illegally discharge oily waste from the Marigola into the sea. 
   According to regulations, oil-contaminated bilge waste can be discharged overboard if it is processed through on-board pollution prevention equipment known as the oily water separator (OWS). Waste oil and sludge can only be disposed of using an on-board incinerator or by discharging the waste to a shore-side facility, barge or tanker truck.  
   During the Coast Guard’s investigation, it was discovered that the Marigola’s oil record book was falsified since at least June 16, 2013. The investigation also revealed that illegal oily waste discharges had occurred from two other Carbofin vessels, the Marola and Solaro. On the Marola, a magic hose was used between December 2012 and April 2013 and on the Solaro from February to August 2013.