A fishing vessel belonging to a Vanuatu company has been fined $US2.5 million dollars in American Samoa for discharging oil and garbage, and keeping false records.
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The company, Yuh Fa Fishery Limited, admitted that engineers on the vessel Yuh Fa failed to document the illegal dumping of oily bilge water into the Pacific without the use of required pollution prevention equipment.
The company also admitted that the engineers modified the vessel's piping system, allowing oily bilge water and oil sludge to be discharged directly overboard.
The company further acceded that the crew regularly failed to accurately record the transfer and disposal of oil waste in the boat's Oil Record Book.
The Coast Guard relies on such records to determine whether vessels are illegally dumping oil and garbage at sea.
As a result, tons of waste and garbage from the vessel is still unaccounted for.