Vessel Operator and Engineers Sentenced for Oil Waste Discharge Offenses | OPA

A vessel operating company was sentenced today in Hagatna, Guam, for illegally discharging oil into Apra Harbor, Guam, and for maintaining false and incomplete records relating to the discharges of oily bilge water from the vessel Kota Harum.

Pacific International Lines (Private) Limited (PIL), Chief Engineer Maung Maung Soe, and Second Engineer Peng Luo Hai admitted that oily bilge water was illegally dumped from the Kota Harum directly into the ocean and into Apra Harbor, Guam, without being properly processed through required pollution prevention equipment. Oily bilge water typically contains oil contamination from the operation and cleaning of machinery on the vessel. The defendants also admitted that these illegal discharges were not recorded in the vessel’s oil record book as required by law.

“This case was particularly egregious as it not only involved oily waste discharges out at sea, but also in the Port of Guam itself,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jean E. Williams of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “I’d like to thank the stevedores at the Port of Guam who reported the oil discharge to authorities. The Department of Justice and our partner agencies will continue to ensure that polluters who threaten our natural resources are held fully accountable under the law.”  

“This case demonstrates our continued commitment to enforcing federal environmental laws in our districts,” said U.S. Attorney Shawn N. Anderson of the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. “We will not allow our waters to be dumping grounds for vessel owners and their crews. The substantial penalties imposed by the court are a strong measure of accountability for these unconscionable acts.”

“This case is a strong example of how the U.S. Coast Guard environmental protection missions safeguard our shared natural resources,” said Josh Empen, Deputy Commander, Coast Guard Sector Guam. “We are very thankful to have an expert team of pollution investigators, port state control examiners, and Coast Guard Investigative Service agents who are dedicated to the mission and allowed referral of the case to the U.S. Attorney. I would also like to thank the professional men and women of the Port Authority of Guam who reported the illegal discharge to the National Response Center.”

Specifically, on Oct. 4, 2019, Hai, who was employed by PIL, used the Kota Harum’s emergency fire/ballast pump to discharge oily bilge water directly overboard, leaving an oil sheen upon the water of Apra Harbor. Additionally, Soe, who was also employed by PIL, admitted that excessive leaks in the vessel caused oily bilge water to accumulate in the vessel’s engine room bilge at a rate that exceeded the oil water separator’s (required pollution prevention machinery) processing capacity.

Rather than repairing these leaks before continuing to sail or storing the oily bilge water in holding tanks to be discharged to shore-side reception facilities, it was the routine practice onboard the Kota Harum to discharge the oily bilge water directly overboard into the ocean. Soe then failed to record these improper overboard discharges in the vessel’s oil record book. Additionally, Soe admitted that he altered the vessel’s sounding log so that it would appear as though oily bilge water was being stored in the vessel’s holding tank instead of being pumped overboard.

PIL pleaded guilty to five felony violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships for failing to accurately maintain the Kota Harum’s oil record book, and one felony violation of the Clean Water Act for knowingly discharging oil into a water of the United States in a quantity that may be harmful. The judge sentenced PIL to pay a total criminal penalty of $3 million and serve a four-year term of probation, during which all vessels operated by the company and calling on U.S. ports will be required to implement a robust Environmental Compliance Plan.

Soe and Hai previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced to two years of probation and one year of probation, respectively. Additionally, both Soe and Hai are prohibited from serving as engineers onboard any commercial vessels bound for the United States during their respective terms of probation.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Stephen Da Ponte of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Marivic P. David for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.