No A001/05 For publication February 14, 2005 PRECEDENT SET AS MARINE POLLUTER ORDERED TO PAY SUBSTANTIAL PENALTY HALIFAX, NS – A Nova Scotia provincial court judge has ordered the Fishing Vessel (FV) Hime Maru No. 38 to pay a $60,000 penalty for violations of the Canada Shipping Act associated with the unlawful discharge of an oily substance into Canadian waters. This sentence sets an important precedent as it marks the first time in Canada that a member of a ship’s crew has been convicted of Oil Record Book violations. On January 6, 2004, the vessel’s agent reported an oil slick around the FV Hime Maru No. 38, which was berthed at Pier 24 in the Port of Halifax. A subsequent investigation by Transport Canada determined that the slick, containing an undetermined amount of oil, originated from the FV Hime Maru No. 38 On March 2, 2004, the Regional Operations Center of the Canadian Coast Guard received a report from Imperial Oil that the FV Hime Maru No. 38 had discharged oil overboard while refuelling at the Imperial Oil dock in Dartmouth. Transport Canada investigators confirmed that the spill, containing 567.5 litres of oil, originated from the FV Hime Maru No. 38. As a result of these two incidents, the vessel, master and company faced a number of charges and the vessel and master were subsequently found guilty of several offences under the Canada Shipping Act. The vessel was found guilty of two counts of illegal discharge of a pollutant and fined $40,000. The master of the vessel was also found guilty of one count of misreporting information in the Oil Record Book and one count of not reporting a pollution incident, and was fined a total of $20,000. The court also ordered that $25,000 of the $60,000 monetary penalty is to be paid to the Environmental Damages Fund. Transport Canada is committed to ensuring environmentally responsible commercial marine operations and to prosecuting marine polluters whenever there is sufficient evidence. Penalties imposed by the courts act as a general deterrent for any would-be polluter. The Department continues to work in close cooperation with other federal agencies, such as Fisheries and Oceans, Environment Canada, the Department of National Defence and Justice Canada, as well as with other national and international partners in order to eliminate ship source marine pollution in Canadian waters. More information on the Government of Canada’s efforts to eliminate ship-source marine pollution can be found at www.marinepollution.gc.ca. - 30 - Contact: Steve Bone, Transport Canada Communications (902) 426-7795 Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca. Subscribe to news releases and speeches at apps.tc.gc.ca/listserv/ and keep up-to-date on the latest from Transport Canada.
