Ship engineer gets probation in oil pollution scheme

Ship engineer gets probation in oil pollution scheme
Associated Press November 10, 2019 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ship-engineer-gets-probation-in-...

WILMINGTON, Del. — A cargo ship’s chief engineer received probation after pleading guilty to failing to maintain accurate records for the U.S. Coast Guard to hide oil pollution.

The News Journal of Wilmington reported that Vasileios Mazarakis got the one-year probation in Delaware federal court on Friday. He entered a plea agreement last month.

The crime stems from the Coast Guard’s examination of a ship in Delaware Bay in February. Inspectors determined the crew was tricking an oil monitoring device, releasing untreated waste into the ocean and falsifying the ship’s records. Court documents show Mazarakis asked a crew member to help hide what was happening.

Two companies incorporated in Liberia already pleaded guilty to failing to alert the Coast Guard about the ship’s hazardous condition and must pay a $1.8 million fine.