Oil tanker crew plead guilty to pollution charges in New Jersey

Two ship engineers on a foreign-registered commercial oil tanker have pleaded guilty to charges related to the concealment of pollution by falsifying records, with the chief engineer also pleading guilty to charges related to the discharge of oily waste into the sea from a commercial vessel near a petroleum terminal in Sewaren, New Jersey.

Konstantinos Atsalis, chief engineer of the Greek-flagged Kriti Ruby, pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS). Atsalis admitted that the vessel’s crew had knowingly bypassed required pollution prevention equipment by discharging oily waste from the vessel’s engine room through its sewage system into the sea, including near a petroleum offloading facility in Sewaren.

Atsalis also admitted that he falsified the vessel’s oil record book (ORB) – a required log regularly inspected by the US Coast Guard – by failing to record this illegal activity. He also admitted that he directed crewmembers to hide equipment used to conduct transfers of oily waste from the engine room bilge wells to the sewage tank before the coast guard boarded the vessel.

Second Engineer Sonny Bosito also pleaded guilty to violating APPS, admitting to concealing the discharge of oily waste into the sea through the vessel’s sewage system by causing a false ORB to be presented to the US Coast Guard during its inspection of the vessel. Bosito also admitted to directing crewmembers to hide equipment used to conduct transfers from the bilge wells to the sewage tank before the coast guard’s inspection.

The maximum penalty of each charge is six years in prison and a maximum fine of US$250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss resulting from the offense.

The sentencing for both Atsalis and Bosito is scheduled for October 22.

The US Coast Guard Investigative Service investigated the case.