Korean ship captain sentenced for dumping garbage

xSouth Korean ship captain Hae Wan Yang was sentenced Dec. 30 in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Wash., to two months of home confinement in the United States and two years of supervised release for violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships by knowingly failing to maintain an accurate garbage record book.

   In July 2008, Yang, who was captain of the Pan Voyager, a vessel belonging to South Korean shipping company STX Pan Ocean Co. Ltd., ordered crewmen to throw overboard six 55-gallon drums, 30 plastic line rice sacks, and about 200 garbage bags containing oil contaminated grain.

   The vessel was en route from Korea to Longview, Wash., at the time of the incident. When the vessel arrived in port, two whistle blowers provided information of the incident to the Coast Guard and Environmental Protection Agency, who immediately investigated.

   Investigators observed large streaks of oil along the outer hull of the ship where the waste was tossed overboard and that the garbage record book made no reference to the dumping.

   Yang, 54, has been detained in the United States since August. Judge Benjamin Settle said he would have sent Yang to prison, but for a life threatening health condition. The judge opted for detention in a U.S. residence so that he could seek medical care, before he’s allowed to return to his home country.

   In October 2008, the shipping company pleaded guilty and paid a $500,000 fine, and made a $250,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to be used in Puget Sound restoration projects. The company also agreed to a stringent environmental compliance plan with outside auditing.

Source: American Shipper