United States – Penalty for Dumping Oil 12 August 2015 No. 754 Download PDF (2,433KB) M embers are referred to the previous  Japan P&I News No.735  dated 9 June 2015.   The Association has received from Mr. Charles L. Whited, Jr. of the New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, law firm, Murphy, Rogers, Sloss & Gambel, the attached 3 news on the intentional discharge of oily water into the ocean. We provide simple summaries below. For the details of this incident, please see the attached news posted on the website of the US Department of Justice.   = Case 1 = Norwegian Shipping Company and Engineering Officers Charged with Environmental Crimes and Obstruction of Justice   A federal grand jury has returned a seven-count indictment charging Norwegian shipping company and four their engineering officers with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.   According to the indictment, the shipping company and their crews conspired to bypass pollution prevention equipment aboard the vessel and to conceal the direct discharge of waste oil and oil-contaminated waste water from the vessel into the sea. And also, the indictment further alleges that prior to an inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard, Engineer officers ordered crew members to remove the bypass pipe, install a new pipe and repaint the piping to hide the illegal discharges.    If convicted, the shipping company could be fined up to $500,000 per count, in addition to other possible penalties. Four engineering officers face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the obstruction of justice charges.    = Case 2 = German Shipping Company Sentenced To Pay US$750,000 For Dumping Oil A German shipping company was sentenced in federal court to pay a total of $750,000 in fines and community service payments for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships by intentionally discharging 1,780 gallons of oily wate