“The German shipping companies Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG and Briese Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG MS “Extum,” who owned and operated the cargo ship M/V BBC Magellan, pleaded guilty today to failure to maintain an accurate oil record book, in violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and tampering with witnesses by persuading them to provide false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard concerning a bypass hose on the vessel that was being used to discharge oil into the sea. The two companies were sentenced to pay a total of $1.25 million in fines and a $250,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. In addition, the ship M/V BBC Magellan is banned from doing business in the United States for the next five years” (U.S. Department of Justice).
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If you or someone you know has been charged with an environmental related crime, contact our office. Ronald Johnson represented both the Master and Cadet Engineer in this case, neither of whom were charged and both were allowed to return to their home country of Russia.
