The North American Emission Control Area (ECA) proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would require that all vessels travelling within 200 nautical miles of the North American coast run off an ultra-low sulphur content fuel.
NWF Lawsuit Regarding Ship’s Ballast Water
December 4, 2012 by 1 Comment
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) sued on early November the State of New York Department of Environmental Conservation for failing to adequately protect state waters, including the Great Lakes, against aquatic invasive species from ballast water discharges. According to NWF such invaders have disrupted the ecosystem of New York waters from top to bottom and cause more than $200 million per year in damages and control costs across the Great Lakes.
German Shipping Companies Guilty for Illegal Dumping of Oil at Sea
November 9, 2012 by 5 Comments
Two German shipping companies pleaded guilty in early November in federal court in Houston to criminal charges that they concealed the illegal dumping of oil at sea from U.S. Coast Guard inspectors. The operator and owner of the commercial cargo vessel MV Susan K, will pay a $1.2 million dollar criminal penalty, $200,000 of which will go to the National Marine Sanctuaries Fund as a community service payment for projects aimed at preserving and restoring the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary located off the Texas coast. As a condition of probation, all vessels owned or operated by the defendants will be prohibited from entering U.S. ports or waters for five years.
Shipping Company Fined for OWS Discharges
September 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment
A Greek shipping company must pay the US federal government $300,000 after admitting that one of its vessels discharged waste oil into the Atlantic Ocean, U.S. Attorney Donald J. Cazayoux Jr. announced Wednesday in Baton Rouge. “The oceans must be protected from shipping companies that look to cut corners by dumping waste improperly,” said Ivan Vikin, special agent-in-charge of the EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Louisiana.
Ship Owner and Chief Engineer Sentenced for Illegal Discharges from Cargo Ship
August 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment
A shipping company headquartered in Italy and the chief engineer of one of its ships were sentenced today in federal court in Mobile, Ala., for deliberately falsifying records to conceal discharges of oily wastewater from the ship directly into the sea. Giusseppe Bottiglieri Shipping Company S.P.A, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Ginny Granade in the Southern District of Alabama to pay a $1 million criminal fine, serve four years of probation, and make a $300,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The company must also fund and implement a comprehensive environmental compliance plan during the term of probation. Chief Engineer Vito La Forgia was sentenced by Judge Granade to one month in jail.
Alaska Sues U.S. Agencies in an Attempt to Block ECA Regulations
July 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment
It appears that one does not simply enforces ECA regulations in Alaska and walks away with it. Last Friday Alaska sued the Obama administration aiming to block EPA in extending the North American Emissions Control Area to Alaska. According to the submitted law suit as of 1st August 2012 vessels operating within 200 miles of the Southeast and Southcentral Alaska coastlines will be required to use fuel with a sulfur content that does not exceed 1,000 parts per million.
Interim Guidance on the Non-Availability of Compliant Fuel Oil for the North American ECA
June 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released interim guidance for ship owners and operators clarifying how the U.S. government will implement fuel availability provisions when ships are unable to obtain fuel that meets standards protecting against sulfur pollution along the coast. Sulfur pollution has been linked to respiratory illnesses, particularly in at-risk populations including children, the elderly, and asthmatics. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has officially designated waters off of the coast of North America, known as the North American Emission Control Area (North American ECA), as areas where stringent international pollution standards apply for ships, including fuel sulfur limits. The guidance provides background information on the North American ECA fuel sulfur standards, explains how owners and operators of vessels can establish compliance with these requirements, and describes how an owner or operator of a vessel who cannot obtain compliant fuel oil can make a fuel oil non-availability claim.
Officer of the Watch 