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German Shippers Guilty of Dumping Oil, Banned from U.S. Waters for Five Years

Two German shipping companies pleaded guilty in Houston federal court to criminal charges that they concealed the illegal dumping of oil at sea from U.S. Coast Guard inspectors. Nimmrich & Prahm Bereederung and Nimmrich & Prahm Reederei, the operator and…

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owner of the commercial cargo vessel M/V 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. 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. According to the plea agreement, the chief engineer and other crew members repeatedly discharged oily bilge waste water from the vessel into the ocean from before Aug. 1, 2011, to March 4, 2012. The chief engineer then falsified the vessel's oil record book to conceal the dumping, it said.