Japanese Corporate Operator of Cargo Vessel Sentenced to Pay $1.75 Million for Conspiracy and Falsifying Records

The U.S. Department of Justice reports in its press release (quotation, not an independent finding): “TAMPA, FLA. – U. S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday today sentenced the Japanese corporation Hiong Guan Navegacion Japan Co. Ltd., that operates the commercial cargo ship M/V Balsa-62, to three years probation and $1.75 million in penalties for conspiring to falsify and falsifying environmental compliance records, the Justice Department announced. Four hundred thousand dollars of the $1.75 million that Hiong Guan must pay will go to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which partners locally with the Pinellas County, Fla., Environmental Fund (PCEF). PCEF has funded numerous wide-ranging projects related to the protection, restoration and enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat in the Tampa Bay area. The court also ordered Hiong Guan to implement a detailed environmental compliance plan, including monitoring of its fleet-wide operations for the next three years, training for crew members, and engineering alterations to protect gulf and ocean waters. On Nov. 20, 2008, Hiong Guan pleaded guilty to falsifying the "Oil Record Book" for the M/V Balsa-62. Federal and international law requires that all ships properly dispose of oily water and sludge by processing it through an oily-water separator and burning the sludge in the ship’s incinerator to avoid polluting ocean waters. Federal law also requires all ships traveling in United States waters to record accurately each disposal of oily water or sludge in an Oil Record Book, and to have the book available for inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard. According to court documents, from Spring 2007 through February 2008, Franci”