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Date: 12-02-2020
Case Style:
Case Number: 4:20-cr-00098-FL
Judge: Louise Flanagan
Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (Craven County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States District Attorney’s Office, New Bern, North Carolina
Defendant's Attorney:
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Description: New Bern, North Carolina environmental law criminal defense lawyer represented Pacific Carriers Limited (PCL), a Singapore-based company that owns subsidiaries engaged in international shipping was charged with to violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, obstruction of justice, and for a failure to notify the U.S. Coast Guard of a hazardous condition on the Motor Vessel (M/V) Pac Antares.
PCL pleaded guilty to a total of eight felony offenses across three judicial districts – the Eastern District of North Carolina, the Southern District of Texas, and the Eastern District of Louisiana. PCL was sentenced to pay a fine of $12,000,000.00, placed on probation for a period of four years, and ordered to implement a comprehensive Environmental Compliance Plan as a special condition of probation.
In pleading guilty, PCL admitted that crew members onboard the M/V Pac Antares, a 20,471 gross-ton, 586-foot ocean-going commercial bulk carrier, knowingly failed to record in the vessel’s oil record book the overboard discharge of oily bilge water and oil waste without the use of required pollution-prevention equipment, from approximately April 2019 until the vessel arrived in Morehead City, North Carolina, on Sept. 29, 2019. PCL also admitted that the crew discharged oily garbage and plastic overboard and falsified the garbage record book.
PCL also admitted that a large space along the keel of the vessel, known as the duct keel, was being used to store oily waste which constituted a hazardous condition under the Ports and Waterways Safety Act and it should have been immediately reported to the U.S. Coast Guard Sector North Carolina. The Chief Engineer, Wenguang Ye, pleaded guilty to falsifying the oil record book, and was sentenced to a fine of $5,500 and banned from entering the United States for one year after choosing to cooperate in the investigation. In 2008, the M/V Pac Antares was involved in another prosecution in Wilmington, North Carolina, for concealing the overboard discharge of oily bilge water and assessed a total criminal penalty of $2,100,000.
“This kind of deliberate evasion of our pollution control laws will not be tolerated,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Brightbill of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The Environmental Crimes Section proudly works hand-in-hand with U.S. Attorneys Offices and law enforcement partners around the country to investigate and prosecute the intentional violation of our laws that protect our oceans by commercial ship owners, operators, and personnel. It’s also essential that we demand the safe operation of ships in our ports.”
“The defendants in this case knowingly, intentionally and illegally discharged oily waste and other garbage into the waters along the North Carolina coast,” said U.S. Attorney Robert J. Higdon Jr. of the Eastern District of North Carolina. “That coastline is among the great natural treasures of this country and we are committed to its protection. To that end we will hold companies and individuals responsible when they fail to follow federal law designed to protect these valuable resources.”
“U.S. Attorneys all over the country work together enforcing federal laws,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick of the Southern District of Texas. “Some laws, like environmental crimes, can impact multiple districts at the same time. Foreign ships, because of corruption, incompetence or parsimony that dump their sewage or oil bilge in our waters will be held accountable. The Houston ship channel is a vital engine to the world’s economy and it requires all vessels to respect our laws if they want access to our port.”
“Safeguarding the environment is one of the highest priorities for the Department of Justice,” said U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser for the Eastern District of Louisiana. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to continue working with its federal partners to investigate and hold entities accountable when they neglect their professional and legal obligations and threaten the environment, which places the public and the ecosystem in Southeastern Louisiana at risk.”
“The Coast Guard remains dedicated to preserving the marine environment and protecting our living marine resources,” said Rear Adm. Laura Dickey, Coast Guard Fifth District Commander. “The results of this case showcase the commitment and meticulous efforts of our marine safety professionals, pollution responders and Coast Guard agents in North Carolina, and the great partnership we share with the Department of Justice.”
According to the plea agreement, PCL is the parent company of two other companies that owned and operated the M/V Pac Antares. On Sept. 29, 2019, the M/V Pac Antares arrived in Morehead City, North Carolina. A crewmember walked off the ship and informed a Customs and Border Protection officer that he had information about illegal discharges that had taken place on the vessel. The U.S. Coast Guard was sent that information and conducted an inspection and examination. Examiners discovered and seized a large trove of evidence that oily waste and garbage had been discharged from the vessel to include a configuration of drums, flexible hoses and flanges to bypass the vessel’s oily water separator.
Examiners also discovered that oily waste had been discharged through a laundry sink which subsequently discharged directly overboard or through the vessel’s sewage system. Examiners discovered the sewage system was contaminated with oil. Crewmembers also admitted that bags filled with oily rags were thrown over the side of the ship. These discharges were knowingly not recorded in the M/V Pac Antares’s oil record book and garbage record book when they were presented to the U.S. Coast Guard during the vessel’s inspection. The examiners also found over 60,000 gallons of oily water being stored in the “duct keel” which took several days and a third-party contractor to properly clean out.
Senior Trial Attorney Kenneth Nelson of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Banumathi Rangarajan of the Eastern District of North Carolina, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Schammal of the Southern District of Texas, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia Evans of the Eastern District of Louisiana are prosecuting the case. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Coast Guard Investigative Service – Wilmington Office, Marine Safety Detachment Fort Macon, and Coast Guard Sector North Carolina.
Outcome: 12/01/2020 15 CORPORATE RESOLUTION as to Pacific Carriers Limited. (Tripp, S.) (Entered: 12/01/2020)
12/01/2020 16 ORDER granting 13 Motion for Whistleblower Award as to Pacific Carriers Limited - Signed by District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan on 12/1/2020. (Tripp, S.) (Entered: 12/01/2020)
12/01/2020 18 Minute Entry for proceedings held before District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan:Plea and Sentence Hearing as to Pacific Carriers Limited held on 12/1/2020 - Counsel present for defendant - Assistant U.S. Attorney present for USA - Defendant advised of rights, charges and maximum penalties - Memorandum of Plea Agreement Filed - Defendant's Waiver of Indictment accepted by the court - Plea entered by Pacific Carriers Limited - Guilty as to Counts 1 and 2 - The court approves the Memorandum of Plea Agreement - Defendant sentenced to 4 years probation - Special Assessment $3,200.00 (due immediately) - Fine $12,000,000.00 (to be paid over the proposed schedule as outlined in the plea agreement) - The court will conduct a conference call with counsel within the next couple of weeks to address allocation of fine proceeds - Counsel to provide the clerk three days of availability for this case - Defendant advised of appeal of rights. (Court Reporter - Miriam Dutton) (Tripp, S.) (Entered: 12/01/2020)
12/01/2020 19 Memorandum of Plea Agreement Accepted as to Pacific Carriers Limited (Attachments: # 1 Vessels covered by this agreement, # 2 Environmental Management System, # 3 Employee Training Program, # 4 Bilge, Sludge, Sewage & Hazardous Materials, # 5 Reports and Notifications to be Provided to the Court Appointed Monitor) (Tripp, S.) (Entered: 12/01/2020)
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