O7 GAJA

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Chief engineer facing jail for polluting the seas

The chief engineer of the 'Donald', now sailing as 'O7 Gaja', is facing potential jail time after being convicted by a jury in the US in a pollution case. Documents provided by the US Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of California said that chief engineer Denys Korotkiy was convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, and failure to maintain an accurate oil record book for the vessel, following a five-day jury trial in San Diego. The company that operated the 'Donald' at that time, the Germany-based Interunity Management, previously pleaded guilty to maintaining false and incomplete records relating to the discharge of oily bilge water. According to the verdict, the evidence showed that oily bilge water was illegally dumped from the Donald directly into the ocean through the vessel’s sewage holding tank without being properly processed through the required pollution prevention equipment. These illegal discharges were not recorded in the vessel’s oil record book as required by law. The evidence also showed that Korotkiy made false and fictitious entries in the oil record book claiming transfers of oily bilge had been made from the vessel’s engine room bilge wells to the vessel’s bilge holding tank when, in fact, those transfers had not been made. Finally, the evidence showed that he conspired with others to obstruct the United States Coast Guard’s inspection and investigation into the mishandling of oily bilge water onboard the vessel. After the trial, the court remanded Korotkiy into custody. Sentencing is scheduled for Sep 1, 2023. In the same matter, Interunity Management pleaded guilty to failing to accurately maintain the vessel’s oil record book. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Interunity will pay a total fine of $1.25m and serve a four-year term of probation, during which any vessels operated by the company and calling on US ports will be required to implement a robust environmental compliance plan.