Pollution: German Shipping Lines Fined
While shipping companies in Africa delight in taking regulatory agencies to court and refusing to obey operational rules and regulations, regulatory agencies in Europe and Asia are not letting defaulting shipping line get away with their antics
The United States Coast Guard, after investigations, has fine German shipping company, Briese Schiffahrts, owner and operator of MV BBC Magellan for acts of pollution and environmental degradation. The company and its sister companies have been sentenced to pay a total of $1.25 million in fines and a $250,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to fund projects that enhance coastal habitats of the Gulf of Mexico and bolster priority fish and wildlife populations. The vessel, BBC Magellan is banned from doing business in the United States for the next five years.
Between January and March 2015, the crew of the BBC Magellan, acting on behalf of the vessel’s owner, had installed and illegally used a rubber hose to remove oily wastes from the vessel’s holding tanks and discharged them directly into the ocean.
The two companies are to pay a total of $1.25 million in fines and a $250,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to fund projects that enhance coastal habitats of the Gulf of Mexico and bolster priority fish and wildlife populations.
Assistant Attorney General Cruden in sentencing the companies said “Shipping companies that transport commerce across open seas must respect the international laws and obligations of their trade, which exist to prevent the spoiling of oceans and marine habitat. This egregious behavior by shipping companies, which included intentional deception and witness tampering, will not be tolerated. We will continue to prosecute companies and their officers for these crimes.”
Major shipping line in America have also been fined hundreds of millions of dollars for defaults. We wait to see if similar actions will be taken by African countries.