You are at :

Convictions in other States

Convictions for voluntary discharge of oil in the States which take legal action against offenders

The following tables list convictions for oil pollution offences in territorial waters and protected zones (EEZ, EPZ, fisheries protection zones (FPZ) and ecological and fisheries protection zones (EFPZ)) that we were able to collect, for the few countries which publish such convictions. The cases we know about are listed, although we cannot say what proportion of all the cases that have occurred are listed here. We are not aware of any national websites (except for this one for France) providing complete reports of this information.

Certain countries which are not presented here claim to a have an affirmed policy of repression but claim either never to have had time to publish the results or to prefer to keep the results confidential in order to catch offenders more effectively. We believe simply that most of them have nothing or nearly nothing to publish.

Canada

See the table on the Canadian Government's website:
Marine pollution prosecutions: prosecutions completed against marine polluters in the Atlantic region

United States

We were unable to find a website showing an up-to-date table of the trials and prosecutions. To find the following information it was necessary to search in articles of periodicals.

Sources

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website: http://www.epa/gov/newsroom/
"Cost savings Stemming from non-compliance with international environmental regulations in the maritime sector" (2003) p49

M/T Kaede
Date of offence: 22/10/02
Date of hearing: 22/12/02
Shipowner(s): Unix Line PTE Ltd. (Singapore) / Springs Navigat. SA (Panama)
Reference law: Clean Water Act (CWA)
Penalties: 1,000,000 $USD fine; owners: 750,000 $USD and captain: 250,000 $USD

M/T Alkyon
Flag: Greece
Date of hearing: 07/05/02
Shipowner(s): Ionia Management S.A (Greece)
Reference law: Section 2704 Oil Pollution Act
Penalties: 1,035,000 $USD fine; owner: 500,000 $USD and captain: 250,000 $USD

Anax
Date of offence: 27/09/98
Date of hearing: 13/12/99
Shipowner(s): Anax International Agencies Inc
Reference law: CWA
Penalties: Fines and expenses: 9,400,000 $USD

United Kingdom

On the Maritime and Coastguard Agency website in the section "News and Publications - Prosecutions and Detentions", all the types of penalties inflicted on maritime transport operators by the British courts can be found: lack of proper certification, unsafe operations, breaking alcohol limit, pollution… Presented below are the cases involving pollution for 1998-2004. (Source: NSN report and MCA website)

Sources

Maritime and Coastguard Agency website: http://www.mcga.gov.uk/

Mount Havrim
Date of offence: 24/03/1998
Type: LNG carrier
Date of hearing: 30/03/1998
Penalty: Shipowner £5,000 + £15,000 costs

M/V Weser
Flag: Denmark
Date of offence: 1998
Type: Container ship
Date of hearing: 22/07/1998
Penalty: Owner: £250,000 + £2,243 costs. Fine reduced to £25,000 on appeal

Luckyman
Flag: Cyprus
Date of offence: 01/06/1998
Type: Bulk carrier
Quantity discharged: 25 km long slick
Date of hearing: January 1999
Penalty: Owner: £7,500 + £960 cost

Liliane J
Flag: UK
Date of offence: 1999
Type: Fishing vessel
Quantity discharged: 9 km long slick
Date of hearing: 3/03/99
Penalty: Owner: £9,000 + £960 costs

Sirte Star
Flag: St Vincent & Grenadine
Date of offence: 19/04/1999
Quantity discharged: 1st discharge: 12.5 miles long; 2nd discharge: 3 miles long
Date of hearing: 24/09/1999
Penalty: Owner: £25,000 + £1,190 costs

Crystal Rubino
Flag: Italy
Date of offence: 17/08/1999
Type: Merchant vessel
Quantity discharged: Slick 7 nautical miles long
Date of hearing: 13/07/2000
Penalty: Owner: £18,500 + £2,200 costs

Stena Alexita
Flag: Norway
Date of offence: 16/06/2000
Type: Shuttle tanker
Quantity discharged: 1.5 tonnes/ 3.5 nautical miles long
Date of hearing: 16/11/2000
Penalty: Owner: £7,500

Averity
Flag: British
Date of offence: 26/09/2001
Type: Coastal tanker
Date of hearing: 20/05/2002
Penalty: Owners: £10,000 + £7,173 costs

MSC Ariane
Flag: Panama
Date of offence: 03/07/2002
Type: Container ship
Date of hearing: 13/03/03 then appeal 28/05/03
Penalty: Owner: £100,000 + £4,968 costs, reduced on appeal to £30,000 with no costs

Bro Traveller
Flag: Jamaica
Date of offence: 17/03/2004
Type: Oil tanker
Quantity discharged: Pollution at a terminal
Date of hearing: 09/09/2005
Penalty: £20,000 + £11,344 costs

MV Dieppe
Flag: French
Date of offence: 11/08/2004
Type: Ferry
Date of hearing: 14/11/2006
Penalty:£15,000 + £9,373 costs

Borden
Date of offence: 14/09/2004
Penalty: Owner: £5,000 + £ 4,379 costs

Links

Australia: AMSA : Oil and Chemical pollution prosecutions