Greek Shipping Company Fined $1.5M For Illegal Pollution & Falsifying Records

A Greek shipping company, Eurobulk Ltd., has pleaded guilty and been sentenced for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and falsifying records.

A U.S. federal court in Texas ordered the company to pay $1.5 million and serve four years of probation for the violations committed by its vessel, the Good Heart, during a port call in Corpus Christi, Texas, in April 2023.

The violations occurred when the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Good Heart (63,000 DWT), operated by Eurobulk Ltd., illegally discharged oily bilge water into the ocean without using the Oily Water Separator (OWS).

The ship’s former chief engineer, Christos Charitos, 72, a Greek national, ordered lower-ranking engine crew members to pump out oil-contaminated water from the duct keel (a pipe running from the engine room under the cargo holds) directly into the sea.

Charitos also instructed the second engineer to connect fresh water to the OWS, tricking the oil content meter (OCM) into reading lower oil levels, to avoid detection.

These discharges should have been recorded in the vessel’s Oil Record Book (ORB), but no entries were made.

The U.S. Coast Guard found the violations during a Port State Control inspection on April 23, 2023, in Corpus Christi, after a whistleblower from the crew reported the illegal discharges.

The ship’s crew presented false records to the Coast Guard to cover up the pollution.

Eurobulk Ltd admitted to the violations and was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Texas on January 29, 2025. The court imposed a $1.125 million criminal fine, along with an additional $375,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

The company must also serve four years of probation under an environmental compliance plan that includes monitoring to ensure future compliance.

Former chief engineer Charitos pleaded guilty in September 2024 to failing to record the discharges in the ORB and falsifying records. He was sentenced to a $2,000 fine and one year of unsupervised probation.

U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei stated that it is important to hold foreign companies accountable for violations that threaten U.S. waters. He added that his office would continue seeking justice against vessels that fail to comply with APPS and try to cover up illegal pollution.

Rear Admiral David Barata, commander of the USCG’s Eighth District, asked the public to report any suspicious activities, adding that every report is crucial in protecting marine ecosystems.

In a separate APPS violation case, Fei Wang, a 38-year-old Chinese national, was sentenced to three months in prison for using a “magic pipe” system to bypass pollution controls aboard the M/V ASL Singapore. Wang also falsified the Oil Record Books between October 2023 and February 2024.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS), and Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Marck and Liesel Roscher, along with Senior Trial Attorney Kenneth E. Nelson of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section, prosecuted the case.

Authorities have reaffirmed their commitment to strict enforcement of maritime environmental laws to prevent illegal pollution and protect ocean waters.

Reference: U.S Department of Justice

Source: Maritime Shipping News