Chief Engineer Pleads Guilty to Concealing Vessel Pollution

The U.S. Department of Justice reports in its press release (quotation, not an independent finding): “WASHINGTON – Carmelo Oria, a Spanish citizen, who was the Chief Engineer on the Cyprus-flagged M/T Nautilus , pleaded guilty today to using falsified records that concealed improper discharges of oil-contaminated bilge water from the M/T Nautilus , the Justice Department announced. The government’s investigation began in March 2008, when inspectors from the U.S. Coast Guard conducted an examination of the M/T Nautilus , following the ship’s arrival in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, and subsequently in the Port of Boston. The M/T Nautilus is a 26,794 gross ton chemical tanker owned by Cyprus-based Iceport Shipping Company Ltd., and operated by Spanish-based Consultores de Navegacion S.A. The inspections uncovered evidence that crewmembers aboard the ship had improperly handled and disposed of the ship’s oil-contaminated bilge water and falsified entries in the ship’s official oil record book to conceal these activities. Engine room operations on board large oceangoing vessels such as the M/T Nautilus generate large amounts of waste oil and oil-contaminated bilge waste. International and U.S. law prohibit the discharge of waste containing more than 15 parts per million of oil and without treatment by an oily water separator—a required pollution prevention device. Law also requires all overboard discharges be recorded in an oil record book, a required log which is regularly inspected by the Coast Guard. Oria served as the Chief Engineer aboard the M/T Nautilus between January and March 2008 and was responsible for all engine room operations. During that time, Oria ordered eng”