Repeat German Offender Slapped with USD 750,000 Fine

German shipping company Herm. Dauelsberg GmbH & Co. KG has been fined with USD 750,000 for dumping oily bilge in Alaska.

Herm. Dauelsberg-operated ship Lindavia released an estimated 1,780 gallons of oily water in U.S. waters while en route from China to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands earlier this year, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Feldis is quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

According to Feldis, MV Lindavia took on fuel at a Chinese port in January and had a significant fuel leak, discharging around 36,000 gallons of heavy fuel into a cargo hold. Even though much of the oil was cleaned, the job was not completed.

The Lindavia headed for Dutch Harbor, a fishing port on Unalaska, with a portion of heavy oil still in the lowest part of the cargo hold on January 28th. However, the ship encountered rough weather and was damaged while underway.

Once the ship reached Dutch Harbor in February, Coast Guard inspectors came aboard and found that the crew disposed overboard up to 55-gallon barrels of oily bilge water from the cargo hold.

In addition, the inspection determined that the ship failed to maintain accurate records of its discharges and presented a fictitious oil record book to the Coast Guard.

Herm. Dauelsberg is a repeat offender as it had pleaded guilty for releasing oily water off California in 2013 for which it had to pay USD 1.25 million.

The company pleaded guilty to a felony count of failing to maintain accurate records relating to the overboard disposal of fuel oil and to a felony count of failing to report a hazardous condition aboard the M/V Bellavia to the United States Coast Guard.

World Maritime News Staff