Ship’s engineer pleads guilty to criminal dumping charges
An engineer aboard the 'Hoegh Minerva' has pleaded guilty in the Western District of Washington State to a felony violation related to obstructing the U.S. Coast Guard’s investigation of intentional dumping of waste oil into the ocean.
According to the plea agreement, Vincent B. Genovana 'instructed other crew members on board the 'Hoegh Minerva' to construct a ‘magic pipe’ that was subsequently used to bypass certain pollution prevention equipment and discharge oil waste directly into the ocean,” the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement.
Genovana will be sentenced in Tacoma on Jan. 9 by U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton. The engineer faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.