Two ship engineers in Maine plead guilty to dumping waste oil
The U.S. Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division said two chief engineers for a freighter have pleaded guilty in Maine to dumping waste oil at sea and falsifying a logbook to deceive the U.S. Coast Guard.
Felipe B. Arcolas and Alfredo D. Lozada worked aboard the 'Kent Navigator,' owned and managed by Petraia Maritime Ltd.
'The government's investigation began when the U.S. Coast Guard received an anonymous tip that a vessel bound for Portland, Maine, was illegally discharging its waste oil and its bilges while at sea,' the Justice Department said in a statement. 'The Coast Guard inspected the 'Kent Navigator' when it entered port and found oily residue in piping that led to overboard discharge valves, and oil pollution control equipment that was inoperable.'
The Coast Guard determined the two engineers had pumped waste oil and oily bilges overboard, and then created a false record book to conceal their activities.
Arcolas and Lozada face maximum penalties of five years in prison, fines of $250,000, and three years of probation.