Eagle Ship Management LLC of Stamford, Connecticut, pleaded guilty to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships by intentionally dumping over 10,000 gallons of oil-contaminated bilge water into U.S. waters near New Orleans from the M/V Gannet Bulker, a foreign-flagged vessel, officials announced Wednesday.
As part of a proposed plea deal, ESM will pay a $1.75 million criminal fine and serve four years of probation, including external audits by an independent expert.
The case began after a crew member alerted the Coast Guard via social media on March 14, 2021, reporting that the flooded engine room had been pumped overboard at night without proper pollution controls or recordkeeping, posing serious safety and environmental risks.
In a separate prosecution, the ship’s chief engineer was sentenced to over a year in prison for his role in the illegal discharge and cover-up, officials stated.
As part of its guilty plea, Eagle Ship Management admitted its crew took multiple steps to cover up flooding caused by a failed repair. The crew retaliated against the known whistleblower, lied to the Coast Guard, destroyed key evidence—including a printout from the engine control room—and fabricated backdated personnel reviews to discredit the whistleblower.
Sentencing is set for October 16.
The Coast Guard Criminal Investigations Division and the Coast Guard Heartland District investigated the case.