(WASHINGTON) — Gremex Shipping S.A. de C.V., a Mexican corporation that managed several ships including the bulk carrier Suhar, pleaded guilty and was sentenced Wednesday for creating and providing false records to the U.S. Coast Guard to conceal the illegal discharge of oily bilge waste into the ocean, which is a felony violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS).
The charge stems from a Coast Guard investigation of the ship once it arrived in Pensacola, Fla., on Aug. 25, 2023. Suhar is a 7,602-gross-ton, Panamanian-flagged oceangoing bulk carrier that routinely hauled cement from Tampico, Mexico, to Pensacola. Since March 2021, day-to-day operation of the ship was undertaken by Gremex, which was responsible for hiring all crew, and ensuring compliance with all policies on protection of the environment in accordance with international regulations.
After boarding the ship to determine compliance with all applicable laws, Coast Guard personnel determined that the vessel’s crew had regularly discharged untreated oily bilge water into sea in a manner that bypassed onboard pollution control equipment, and then falsified the ship’s oil record book to conceal these discharges.
As part of normal vessel operations, large oceangoing ships like Suhar generate oily bilge water that periodically needs to be discharged for the vessel to operate safely. The United States and Panama are both parties to the international treaty known as MARPOL, which regulates and limits the at-sea discharge of oily bilge water.
To satisfy these marine pollution requirements, vessels typically discharge oily bilge water after it has been processed through an oily water separator. Ships are required to maintain an oil record book that documents all discharges of oily bilge water so authorities can monitor ships for compliance with these international requirements. Federal law requires that foreign ships arriving at U.S. ports maintain an accurate oil record book.
Consistent with a recommendation jointly proposed by the government and Gremex, the company was sentenced in federal district court in Pensacola to pay a $1.75 million fine, serve a four-year term of probation, and commit to developing and implementing an environmental compliance plan that will be in effect during the time the company is on probation.
The Coast Guard’s Investigative Service investigated the case.
– U.S. Justice Department
