GERMAN shipping company MST Mineralien Schiffahrt Spedition und Transport has been fined US$3
GERMAN shipping company MST Mineralien Schiffahrt Spedition und Transport has been fined US$3.2 million by the US District Court in Portland, Maine, for concealing the dumping of bilge from its ship, the Marguerita . The company pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and one count of obstructing justice by using falsified logbooks to hide illicit discharges of oily bilge over a nine-month period when making calls at the Port of Portland, reported American Shipper.
Aside from the fine, Judge Nancy Torresen sentenced MST to serve a four-year term of probation during which its vessels will be required to implement an environmental compliance plan, including inspections by an independent auditor.
This wasn't the first time MST has been convicted of US environmental crimes. In 2016 the company was part of a federal case in the district of Minnesota for falsifying the oil record book of its vessel, Cornelia, in the Great Lakes.
