The U.S. Department of Justice says 2016 was record year for prosecuting shipping companies and crew for illegal discharges from ocean-going vessels in U.S. waters.

 

At the end of fiscal year 2016, the Department’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division imposed criminal penalties of more than $363 million in fines and more than 32 years of imprisonment from cases related to intentional discharges of pollutants from vessels.

 

Often times these cases involve a crew’s use of a so-called “magic pipe” to dump oil-contaminated water overboard, which is almost always followed by an attempt to cover the illegal dumping up by failing to record these discharges in the ship’s oil record book. Charges, which can range from violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships to obstruction of justice or even conspiracy, can carry steep fines for shipping companies and lengthy prison sentences for any crewmembers involved.

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