Liability, awards and settlements

26.7, pollution, charges

US: a federal grand jury in San Francisco returned a second superseding indictment charging Fleet Management Limited, a Hong Kong ship management company, with negligently causing the discharge of 50,000 gallons of oil from fully cellular containership COSCO Busan and falsifying documents after the crash to cover up the company’s negligence. Fleet Management, the company responsible for operating the vessel, was charged with six felony counts for making false statements and obstructing justice. According to the indictment, Fleet Management, acting through senior vessel officers and shore based supervisory officials, concealed and covered up documents with an intent to impede, obstruct and influence the investigation of the spill. The falsified documents included a fictitious passage plan for Nov 7, 2007, the day of the crash, as well as two prior voyages made after Fleet assumed management of the vessel in October 2007. Fleet’s safety procedures, required by US law, mandated berth-to-berth passage plans for each voyage. However, according to the indictment, Fleet falsified plans after the crash and concealed and covered up the real records. The grand jury’s indictment also charges Fleet Management with misdemeanour crimes for violating the Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by causing the death of protected species of migratory birds. As a result of the discharge of heavy fuel oil from COSCO Busan, approximately 2,000 birds died, including brown pelicans, marbled murrelets and western grebes. The brown pelican is a federally endangered species and the marbled murrelet is a federally threatened species and an endangered species under California law.