Liability, awards and settlements

1.5, guilty plea

US: shipping company National Navigation pleaded guilty to a US Court in Oregon and was fined $7.25mn after admitting several of its chief engineers and crew members dumped oily waste from six ships off the US Pacific and Gulf coasts and for making false statements to federal officials. The case arose from an investigation of bulk carrier Wadi Al Arish (37550 gt, built 1994) when USCG inspectors found evidence of illegal dumping of waste oil during a routine inspection in November last year. US law enforcement agents launched a fleet-wide investigation, boarding vessels and interviewing dozens of crew members at multiple ports in the Pacific Northwest and along the Gulf Coast. The investigation uncovered evidence of violations aboard six vessels in NN’s fleet. Crews on these vessels dumped thousands of gallons of waste oil, including sludge, in oceans around the world and falsified official ship records, including the Oil Record Book.