A chief engineer and a second engineer who were working aboard a product tanker Kriti Ruby (IMO 9391282) pleaded guilty on May 7th to a series of MARPOL violations while their vessel was near a petroleum terminal in Sewaren, New Jersey. Sentencing has been scheduled for October. The US Attorney’s Office in New Jersey said that the charges carried a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
The US Coast Guard and the US Attorney’s office did not say when the offences occurred.
Konstantinos Atsalis was employed as the chief engineer on the vessel. He admitted in court that the vessel’s crew had bypassed the required pollution prevention equipment by discharging oily waste from the vessel’s engine room through its sewage system into the sea, and that this was done knowingly. He further admitted that he had told crew members to conceal the equipment that was used to conduct transfers of oily waste from the engine room bilge wells to the sewage tank, before the USCG boarded the vessel.
The chief engineer also admitted to concealing the actions by falsifying the vessel’s oil record book. This falsely completed log was presented to the US Coast Guard during its routine inspection.
The second engineer, Sonny Bosito, pleaded guilty to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships. He admitted to concealing the discharge of oily waste into the sea through the vessel’s sewage system by causing a false record book to be presented to the USCG during its inspection of the vessel. Bosito also admitted that he directed crew members to hide the equipment used to conduct transfers from the bilge wells to the sewage tank before the inspection by the USCG.
2008-built, Greece-flagged, 29,857 gt Kriti Ruby is owned by Kriti Ruby ENE care of manager Avin International Ltd of Athens, Greece. It is entered with NorthStandard on behalf of Kriti Ruby Special Maritime Enterprise. As of May 8th the vessel was in the Malacca Strait at Port Dickson Anchorage.
