Rks' Ship Operator, Chief Engineer Plead Guiltyto Falsifying Oily Water Discharge Records

摘要

Reederei Karl Schlueter, an operator for GmbH & Co. KG (RKS), a ship management company, and Chief Engineer Nikola Ilijic, an officer on a ship operated by RKS, pleaded guilty on June 16 to a charge that they falsified the Oil Record Book pertaining to the commercial vessel M/V MSC Uruguay. The Justice Department, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Pat Meehan made the announcement in a press release. Schlueter is of Rendsburg, Germany, and Ilijic is of Rijeka, Croatia. Federal and international law requires that all ships follow pollution regulations that include proper disposal of oily water through an Oily Water Separator on board the vessel. Large vessels generate oily water waste when water mixes in the bottom of the vessel (the bilge) with oil leaked and dripped from the machinery and the engines' lubrication and fuel systems. Such oily bilge waste may properly be disposed of by off-loading it to a licensed hauler and disposal facility at port for a fee or by discharging it overboard after the oil is separated out in the Oily Water Separator. Federal law further requires ships to accurately record each disposal of oily bilge water in an Oil Record Book and to have the Oil Record Book available for the U.S. Coast Guard within the internal waters of the United States.