MaritimeFedWatch

With the January 1, 2020 start date for tough new limits on the sulfur content of marine fuels (commonly referred to as IMO 2020) only a month and a half away, the U.S. Coast Guard released on November 18, 2019, an update to its “Guidelines for Compliance and Enforcement of the [U.S.] Emission Control Areas.”

On November 12, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware affirmed the broad authority of the Coast Guard to carry out examinations of foreign vessels in U.S. waters, to interview vessel personnel on board, and to impose conditions on the clearance of a vessel suspected of violating the U.S. Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, abbreviated as “APPS.” That statute implements into U.S. law the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, commonly known as “MARPOL.”

On September 10, 2019, Chief Engineer Ioan Luca, formerly of the Motor Vessel CMA CGM AMAZON, was sentenced to one year of probation and allowed to return home to Romania, after entering into a plea agreement with prosecutors.

The first week of September has brought two significant developments in the U.S. enforcement of MARPOL compliance.

On August 23, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands sentenced two shipping companies in a broad-reaching landmark MARPOL prosecution. Although the U.S. Coast Guard has previously detained vessels for using fuel with a higher sulfur content than permitted in the North American Emission Control Area, this case marks the first time that the U.S. Department of Justice has prosecuted a case for a violation of MARPOL Annex VI regulations for the prevention of air pollution from ships.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued a new policy that may curtail the long-standing practice of requiring vessel owners and operators facing charges under the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and MARPOL to make “Community Service Payments” to non profit groups such as the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation as part of their plea agreements.

On January 1, 2017, the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters, known as the “Polar Code,” went into effect. The Polar Code is a long awaited first step to deal with the special safety, environmental, and operational issues posed by increased vessel traffic in the polar region.

On December 15, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that the U.S. Coast Guard’s assertion of authority to impose non-financial conditions on the release of vessels detained for suspected environmental violations is subject to judicial review. However, the court went on to hold that the Coast Guard had the authority it claimed to impose non-financial conditions on the release of a vessel.

Late on November 6, 2015, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama returned verdicts of guilty against DSD Shipping A.S. and three engineer officers from the MV STAVANGER BLOSSOM on various maritime pollution-related charges.