12 seamen get P41.5-M reward

MANILA, Philippines – Twelve Filipino seamen received yesterday a total of  $900,000 (P41.5 million) from the United States Government as a reward for helping prosecute the owners and operators of two ships that illegally dumped sludge oil and contaminated wastewater into the ocean.

Officials from the US Embassy in Manila presented the rewards, ranging from $25,000 to $175,000 per seaman, during a ceremony at the embassy.

Six of the seamen were crew members of the M/V Windsor Castle, a bulk carrier vessel owned by the Italian shipping company B. Navi Ship Management Services, while the other six were crewmen of M/T Clipper Trojan, a carrier owned by the Danish company Clipper Marine Services.

As a result of the Filipino seamen’s testimony, B. Navi pleaded guilty to breaking the anti-pollution law in 2007, and was sentenced by the Texas federal court last February to pay $1.4 million in fines. 

Clipper Marine Services also pleaded guilty to illegally discharging oil sludge in 2006, and the New Jersey federal court sentenced it last June to pay a $4.75-million penalty.

In addition to the penalty, Clipper Marine Services pledged during a plea agreement to install state-of-the-art oil water separators and other new equipment in five of its ships to allow the US Coast Guard to monitor the ships’ waste oil levels in real time, via satellite.

US Embassy officials said international and US laws prohibit the discharge of ships’ waste oil without treatment by a device known as an oil water separator.

US law also requires that all waste oil should be kept in tanks and recorded in the ship’s book for accounting during US Coast Guard inspections.

In May 2005, the embassy presented cash rewards from the American government to four Filipino seamen for reporting their cargo ship’s violations of US and international environmental laws.

The reward was the US government’s way of showing gratitude and appreciation for their courage and integrity because they are facing the possibility of being blacklisted by shipping companies.

Despite enormous pressure and the risk to their future employment, the Filipino seafarers came forward to report “illegal practices and gross environmental abuse” of M/V Katerina, a 600-foot, 16,320 ton vessel, which dumped large amounts of oil waste into the ocean between February and September 2004.

The M/V Katerina, owned by Katerina Navigation and operated by DST Shipping, both with headquarters in Athens, Greece, was fined $1 million.

The cargo vessel was reported to have used an elbow pipe to bypass the oil water separator and discharge oily waste into the ocean.

On Sept. 14, 2004, the vessel arrived at the port of Long Beach, California and was boarded by US Coast Guard inspectors.

The inspectors, however, were provided with false statements that the ship had properly disposed of its oil waste.

The four seamen testified that they were ordered by their officers to dump oil waste and sewage overboard and to lie about it to the Coast Guard inspectors.

The officers allegedly threatened to harm the crewmen if they cooperated with the authorities.

The US Coast Guard reboarded the ship and found the bypass pipe as well as its hiding place.

As a result, the US Attorneys Office in Los Angeles procured guilty pleas from Capt. Kalliskis, Chief Engr. Guinto and Second Engr. Sullesta.

The Los Angeles US Attorneys Office considered this a significant case. They received the maximum reward allowable under US law.