BOSTON - A Hong Kong-based shipping company that used a "magic pipe" to dump oil-contaminated sludge into the Atlantic Ocean has pleaded guilty and will pay $10.5 million, federal prosecutors said on Monday.
Announcing what his office said was the largest fine involving deliberate pollution by a single ship, US Attorney Michael Sullivan said MSC Ship Management (Hong Kong) Ltd's MSC Elena used a specially fitted steel pipe to funnel the 40 tonnes of sludge and waste overboard.
"The defendant knowingly violated anti-pollution laws, intentionally dumping oil-contaminated waste directly into the ocean -- and even went so far as to manufacture a so-called 'magic pipe' to accomplish the crime," Sullivan said.
The Coast Guard discovered the pipe during a routine inspection in Boston Harbor this year.
MSC Ship Management, a privately-held company, pleaded guilty to the charges and agreed to pay the $10 million fine and $500,000 to support community service projects that offer environmental education to mariners visiting or sailing from Massachusetts ports.
Sullivan said he hoped the fine would send a strong message to others who might try to break anti-pollution laws.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
