The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday (20 April) said a federal jury convicted a Unix Line PTE Ltd First Engineer of aiding and abetting an environmental crime and obstruction of justice in connection with the intentional dumping oily bilge water from a commercial tanker in February of 2019.

“The crew members of the Zao Galaxy dumped oily bilge water into the ocean and then tried to cover up the environmental damage by submitting bogus paperwork to the United States Coast Guard,” said U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar. 

“As First Assistant Engineer of an ocean-going commercial tankship, Gilbert Dela Cruz was charged with ensuring the crew would follow the rules, not try to circumvent them.  This verdict will serve as a reminder that there are stiff penalties for those who try to violate federal and international rules designed to protect our precious natural resources from polluters.”

The DoJ said in January 2019, Dela Cruz, was the First Engineer of the M/T Zao Galaxy, a 16,408 gross-ton, ocean-going oil tankship operated by Unix Line Pte Ltd when it traveled from the Philippines to Richmond, California. 

On February 11, 2019, United States Coast Guard examiners boarded the Zao Galaxy while it was moored in Richmond to conduct an examination. 

During the examination, a crewmember passed a note to an examiner requesting a meeting after the inspection so that the crewmember could “tell something” about a “magic pipe” and “damage [to the] marine environment.” 

After the inspection and a follow-up investigation, the DoJ reported that Unix ultimately admitted a ship officer directed crew members to discharge oily bilge water overboard, using a configuration of drums, flexible pipes, and flanges to bypass the vessel’s oil water separator. 

On February 26, 2020, the company admitted the discharges were done knowingly and that they were not recorded in the vessel’s oil record book when it was presented to the U.S. Coast Guard during the vessel’s inspection. 

On March 20, 2020, Judge Tigar sentenced Unix to pay a fine of USD 1,650,000.00, placed Unix on probation for a period of four years, and ordered the company to implement a comprehensive Environmental Compliance Plan as a special condition of probation.

Notwithstanding these admissions, Dela Cruz denied responsibility for the environmental crimes and went to trial. 

In finding Dela Cruz guilty, the jury concluded Dela Cruz aided and abetted a violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships by causing the captain of the Zao Galaxy to maintain an inaccurate oil record book and that he also committed obstruction of justice.

According to the evidence presented at trial, in preparation for a Coast Guard inspection in Richmond, California, Dela Cruz ordered a lower level employee who worked as his assistant to dump oily waste from the ship’s engine room directly into the ocean using a “magic pipe.” 

Dela Cruz then worked to conceal the dumping by not recording the movement or discharge of oily waste in the ship’s oil record book, which he was responsible for. 

Dela Cruz ordered that certain pieces of equipment be repainted and the “magic pipe” be hidden to avoid Coast Guard detection.  During the Coast Guard’s inspection, Dela Cruz told his assistant who had dumped the oily waste overboard not to throw him “under the bus” and that they needed to get their stories straight for the Coast Guard.

A federal grand jury indicted Dela Cruz on October 24, 2019, charging him with one count of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, one count of obstruction of justice, and one count of obstruction of an agency proceeding. 

The jury found Dela Cruz guilty of all three counts.  Dela Cruz currently faces a maximum of six years’ imprisonment and USD 250,000 for and three years of supervised release for the pollution count, 20 years’ imprisonment and USD250,000 for the obstruction of justice count, and five years of imprisonment and USD 250,000 for the obstruction of the agency proceedings count. 

Judge Tigar ordered Dela Cruz released on bond pending sentencing and scheduled the sentencing for June 11, 2021, at 9:30 a.m.

Related: U.S. court fines Singapore-based Unix Line USD 1.65 million over oily waste discharges
Related : Singapore-based Unix Line pleads guilty to illegally discharging bilge waste
Related : Singapore-based Unix Line faces charge over oily waste discharges

Photo credit: Marine Traffic / M.L.Jacobs
Published: 23 April, 2021