TWO shipping companies and two engineers were indicted on charges of dumping 5,000 gallons oily wastewater from a bulk carrier heading into Seattle and concealing it from the US Coast Guard,
Seamen face fines, prison for dumping waste water on China-US voyage TWO shipping companies and two engineers were indicted on charges of dumping 5,000 gallons oily wastewater from a bulk carrier heading into Seattle and concealing it from the US Coast Guard, reported The Associated Press. If convicted, defendants face prison terms and a US$500,000 fine on each count. Federal prosecutors said the 74,133-dwt bulk carrier Gallia Graeca released the contaminated water over several days in late October as she went from China to Seattle. The ship's operator, Angelakos (Hellas) is a Panama company and its owner, Gallia Graeca Shipping, is based in Cyprus. Prosecutors say during the ship's voyage, its oil-water filtering equipment was inoperable. The indictment says when the coast guard inspected the ship in November; the engineers ran the equipment in a way that made it appear it was working. The companies and engineers were each charged with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, falsifying records in a federal investigation an defrauding the government.