Coast Guard Assists in Prosecution of Polluting Cargo Company
11/17/2010 – A major activity of the USCG is law enforcement in the maritime domain. Here Capt. Mark P. O’Malley, the commanding officer of Coast Guard Sector Baltimore, is seen giving his remarks during a press conference held shortly after U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Irika Shipping S.A., to pay $4 million in penalties for deliberately discharging oil and waste into the ocean, Sept. 21. The motor vessel Iorana, a Greek flagged cargo ship responsible for the crime, was inspected Jan. 8, by Coast Guard investigators after a whistleblower had told authorizes that the ship had illegally discarded oil and waste into the ocean.
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Credit: U.S. Coast Guard District 5, September 21st, 2010
- The second photo shows the hose used to comit the violations. A Coast Guard inspection crew discovered that the motor vessel Iorana, a Greek flagged cargo ship managed by Irika Shipping S.A., used a “magic hose” to bypass a oily water separator in order to discharge what was later revealed to be approximately 6,000 gallons of oil contaminated sludge and bilge waste.
- The third photo shows a letter written by a crewmember aboard the motor vessel Iorana, a Greek flagged cargo ship, is used as evidence against Irika Shipping S.A., a ship management corporation sentenced to pay $4 million for deliberately discharging oil and waste into the ocean, Sept. 21. The letter was given to a Customs and Border Protection inspector upon arrival into Baltimore, states that the chief engineer on the vessel had directed the dumping of waste overboard through a bypass hose that circumvented pollution prevention equipment.