International Shipping Companies Sentenced to Pay $1.75 Million Fine for Concealing Discharges of Oily Waste Into Ocean

PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that a vessel operating company pleaded guilty today in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to charges stemming from the discharge of oily waste into the sea. MSC Shipmanagement Limited, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships ("APPS") for conduct that occurred on the motor vessel MSC Samira III between June 2024 and January 2025. The vessel's owner, Hong Kong Spirit Shipping and Trading Limited, also pleaded guilty to two counts of violating APPS. Both companies were sentenced to pay a combined fine of $1.75 million and serve four years of probation. Second Engineer Mikhail Tsurikov previously pleaded guilty to violating APPS and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 10.

"These companies repeatedly cut corners and covered it up, befouling the marine environment," said U.S. Attorney Metcalf. "Their violations evidence both a disdain for our country's laws and a clear case of greed. Shippers who illegally discharge pollutants and doctor their records will be prosecuted and held accountable."

"Foreign vessels that enter the ports of the United States and present false documents undermine our efforts to preserve our environment and enforce the law," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Department of Justice's Energy and Natural Resources Division ("ENRD"). "We will vigorously protect the integrity of our port state control system against actors who put profit over compliance with the law."

"Deliberately concealing illegal discharges puts our marine environment at risk and undermines the domestic and international regulatory frameworks designed to keep our waterways safe," said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Roberto Rivera, captain of the port and commander of Sector Delaware Bay. "The Coast Guard remains committed to working with our federal partners to hold operators accountable when they violate the laws that protect our oceans."

"The Coast Guard Investigative Service ("CGIS") possesses unique statutory authorities and specialized investigative capabilities purpose-built to address complex criminal conduct in the maritime environment," said CGIS Assistant Special Agent in Charge Javiel Gonzalez. "When maritime operators engage in criminal deception, falsify official records, and attempt to circumvent federal oversight, CGIS special agents have the technical expertise and jurisdiction to uncover the truth and hold perpetrators accountable. This case underscores our unwavering commitment to maintaining the integrity of our waterways and enforcing the rule of law across the maritime domain."

Between June and September 2024, senior officers in the engine department of the MSC Samira III instructed lower-level crew members to pump oily bilge water from the vessel's bilge holding tank to the sewage holding tank using portable pumps and hoses. The crew members then discharged the oily bilge water into the sea using the sewage holding tank's overboard discharge valve. In doing so, they bypassed the oil water separator, a piece of pollution prevention equipment that is designed to prevent the discharge of oily bilge water containing more than 15 parts per million of oil into the sea.

Such exceptional discharges of oil are required by U.S. and international law to be recorded in a ship's oil record book, but the officers in charge of these operations failed to do so. In addition to these discharges of oily waste from the vessel's sewage holding tank, on several occasions between September 2024 and January 2025, senior engine department crew members also tricked the oil water separator by running fresh water instead of oily bilge water through the equipment's oil content monitor. Doing so allowed them to discharge oily bilge water directly into the sea through the oil water separator. These discharges were also not accurately recorded in the vessel's oil record book as required by law.

In January 2025, the MSC Samira III made two separate calls in the Port of Philadelphia, where its crew presented the false oil record book to the U.S. Coast Guard.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Angella Middleton and Anthony Scicchitano and Trial Attorney Lauren Steele of ENRD's Environmental Crimes Section.