09 Aug 13 - 18:26
Maximum fine of $5.5 million and five years of probation
The US Department of Justice has announced that a Panamian shipping corporation headquarted in Greece, Diana Shipping Services S.A., and two engineers convicted after an 12-day bench trial on charges related to the illegal discharge of waste oil and oil-contaminated waste water from the M/V Thetis, a cargo vessel operated by the shipping company.
All the defendants were convicted of conspiracy, knowing failure to fully maintain an oil record book, falsification of records and concealing tangible objects in a federal investigation.
In addition, on of the two engineers working for the Diana Shipping SA, Mr Ioannis Prokopakis, was also convicted of obstruction of justice for ordering crewmembers to lie to U.S. Coast Guard inspectors on board the ship.
"The pollution of our oceans, the falsification of environmental records, and lying to the U.S. Coast Guard are serious crimes," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Dreher. "Companies and individuals that intentionally attempt to cover up these crimes and obstruct U.S. Coast Guard investigations, will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
"These defendants not only violated the law when they illegally discharged contaminated waste into our waters, but then conspired to cover up their nefarious conduct," said United States Attorney Neil H. MacBride. "Those who choose to continue to violate the law, even after being confronted, will find themselves in the same, serious trouble as these defendants."
Diana Shipping Services, S.A. faces a maximum fine of $5.5 million and five years of probation. The two engineers, Mr Ioannis Prokakis and Mr Antonios Boumpoutelos face a maximum sentence of five years for the conspiracy conviction, six years per failure to maintain an oil record book conviction, and 20 years per falsification of record conviction. Prokakis faces an additional five year sentence for obstruction of justice. All three defendants will be sentenced on Nov. 8, 2013.
Diana Shipping Services S.A., Prokakis, and Boumpoutelos, were indicted on May 22, 2013, in an 11-count superseding indictment alleging the illegal discharging of waste oil and oil-contaminated waste water in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.
In September 2012, crewmembers of the M/V Thetis, a cargo vessel operated by Diana Shipping Services, reported that the vessel was discharging its bilge waste and sludge illegally by various means, including a "magic pipe" that bypassed the oily water separator.
Coast Guard inspectors boarded the vessel when it entered port in Norfolk and discovered the "magic pipe" and that the oily water separator was non-functioning.
View more information about this case at US Department of Justice
