Liberian Ocean Shipping Company Admits Falsifying Oil Discharge Record Books

Dalnave Navigation, Inc., a Liberian shipping company with offices in Athens, Greece, was sentenced by U.S. District Court to pay a fine of $1 million after pleading guilty for failing to keep accurate records of oily water discharge, and using falsified records to conceal the discharge of untreated bilge waste into the ocean. The sentencing was the maximum fine allowable for the two counts.

Additionally, Dalnave Navigation agreed to pay $350,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to be used specifically for the protection, scientific study, and restoration of marine and aquatic resources in New Jersey and the state's offshore coastal region.

Dalnave's ship, the M/V Myron N, came under investigation in September 2008 when U.S. Coast Guard officials uncovered evidence that crew members had installed pipes to bypass the ship's pollution control system in order to pump untreated bilge waste directly into the ocean.  International and U.S. law prohibit the discharge of waste containing more then 15 parts per million of oil without onboard treatment by an oily water separator, a required pollution prevention device.

Previously, the M/V Myron N chief engineer Panagiotis Stamatakis and second engineer Dimitrios Papadakis pled guilty on July 16, 2009 to using falsified records that concealed improper discharges of untreated bilge waste from the ship. Both were sentenced to three months probation with the condition that they serve one month in a community corrections facility.