Two corporations that operated the motor tanker P/S Dream — Prive Overseas Marine LLC and Prive Shipping Denizcilik Ticaret — were sentenced in federal court in New Orleans to pay a $2 million criminal penalty and complete four years of probation. The companies pleaded guilty in May to charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS). The court also sentenced the P/S Dream’s Captain, Abdurrahman Korkmaz, on Sept. 10 to eight months in prison for an APPS offense and obstructing the U.S. Coast Guard’s investigation.
The charges relate to an investigation of the P/S Dream vessel when it was heading to New Orleans in January 2023. Senior corporate managers knew that Korkmaz had arranged to discharge oil-contaminated waste from a residual tank on deck into the ocean. The captain ordered the crew to pump the waste overboard and clean the tank with soap. The seamen rigged a portable pump to empty the contents overboard over three days. The defendants falsified the vessel’s oil record book by omitting this discharge.
One crew member alerted the Coast Guard and shared videos of the discharge and resulting oil sheen. When the ship arrived in Louisiana, another crew member provided a recording of an officer discussing the discharge.
The falsified logs presented to the Coast Guard during its inspection aimed to conceal that oil-contaminated waste had been dumped overboard, violating MARPOL Annex I, an international treaty regulating oil pollution from ships. Corporate representatives at Prive Shipping were aware that oil-contaminated waste remained in the tank and were informed by the ship’s master that it had been dumped overboard.
The $2 million criminal penalty includes $500,000 in organizational community service payments funding various maritime environmental projects in Eastern District of Louisiana managed by National Fish & Wildlife Foundation.
Captain Korkmaz is a Turkish national. Prive Overseas Marine is based in Dubai while Prive Shipping is headquartered in Turkey. As part of their probation conditions, both corporations must adhere to an environmental compliance plan mandating audit, safety, and inspection requirements for four years.
Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans for Eastern District of Louisiana made this announcement.
The Coast Guard Investigative Service and EPA Criminal Investigations Division investigated this case with assistance from Coast Guard Sector New Orleans.
Senior Litigation Counsel Richard A. Udell and Senior Trial Attorney Ryan Connors from Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section along with Assistant U.S. Attorneys G. Dall Kammer and Christine M. Calogero for Eastern District of Louisiana prosecuted this case.
###