DOJ: Accord Ship / M/V Sportsqueen — plea for pollution (APPS)

On September 20, 2007, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Indian shipper Accord Ship Management and chief engineer Francisco Sabando pleaded guilty to illegal discharge of oily sludge, bilge water and oil-contaminated ballast from the freighter M/V Sportsqueen (479 feet). It was announced by Ronald J. Tenpas (Acting Assistant Attorney General, ENRD), U.S. Attorney Rosa E. Rodríguez-Vélez (USAO-PR) and Capt. James E. Tunstall (U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan).

Accord pleaded guilty to a four-count criminal information: conspiracy, violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and two counts of obstruction of justice. Under the plea, it will pay a criminal fine of $1.75 million and serve three years’ probation during which its entire fleet is banned from U.S. waters and ports. Sabando pleaded guilty to obstruction and will serve five months in prison. Tenpas stressed that the company “was not willing to comply” and thus loses access to U.S. ports; Rodríguez-Vélez linked the case to protecting the Island’s coast and marine life.

On April 14, 2007 the Sportsqueen arrived in San Juan and the Coast Guard boarded; it discovered Sabando ordered discharges and falsified the oil record book. The law requires treating waste with an oil-water separator and recording oil transfers. With help from lower-ranking crew, inspectors found and seized bypass hose and piping. The court awarded $50,000 to each of five witnesses (1st–3rd engineers, oiler and bosun) under the APPS clause allowing up to half the fine to be awarded to those who provide information leading to conviction.

Investigated by the Coast Guard Investigative Service with Sector San Juan; prosecuted by Environmental Crimes Section and USAO-PR. Guilty plea / fine = bargained sanction, not an “open indictment.” Primary: DOJ 2007-09-20.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice. https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2007/September/07_enrd_739.html