Prosecutors say two chief engineers hid oil pollution in “magic pipes” designed to avoid government detection.
Now, the chief engineers of car-carrier ships in Baltimore City have pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to criminal charges related to their deliberate concealment of oil-contaminated waste in the lowest point of the ship?s inner hull called the bilge.
The so-called “magic pipes” were designed to bypass required pollution-prevention equipment, federal prosecutors say.
Pacific Gulf Marine Inc. engineer Stephen Karas pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy and making false statements, and fellow engineer Deniz Sharpe pleaded guilty March 7 to violating the federal Act To Prevent Pollution From Ships.
PGM has pleaded guilty to charges related to its role in discharging hundreds of thousands of gallons of waste from four of its giant car-carrier ships used to transport vehicles, prosecutors said.
The shipping company was sentenced Jan. 24 to pay $1 million criminal fines and $500,000 in community service.
The ships operated by PGM had a removable bypass pipe that was used repeatedly to discharge waste overboard in violation of federal law, prosecutors say.
Karas admitted to using the bypass pipe and concealing it during U.S. port calls to prevent the Coast Guard from discovering it in addition to concealing the unlawful discharges in a false oil record book, prosecutors said.
The “magic pipes” were brought to light in March 2003 when Coast Guard inspectors in Baltimore City lifted a deck plate and found a permanently installed bypass pipe on Sharpe?s ship, court documents show.
Another of the company?s chief engineers remains under indictment, prosecutors said.
