Acting United States Attorney Michael M. Simpson announced that two companies, ASL Singapore Shipping Limited and Jia Feng Shipping (Fuzhou) Limited, have pled guilty to environmental crimes related to the bulk carrier M/V ASL Singapore. The charges include violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and obstruction of justice due to falsifying the vessel's Oil Record Book.
The guilty pleas were entered on February 20, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey. Both companies were sentenced in the same proceeding and fined a total of $1.85 million. They are also prohibited from operating in the United States in the future. Separate charges were brought against Fei Wang, the ship’s Chief Engineer, who had already pled guilty and was sentenced on January 24, 2025.
The case originated from a routine inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard, which uncovered that the crew used unauthorized equipment to dispose of oily bilge water—a breach of MARPOL regulations and international treaties on oil pollution prevention from ships. The vessel's Oil Record Books contained fraudulent entries intended to hide these actions since at least June 2023.
ASL Singapore Shipping Limited is based in The Republic of the Marshall Islands, while Jia Feng is based in China. Each corporation faced two felony charges: an APPS violation and obstruction of justice.
The investigation was conducted by the Coast Guard Investigative Service and the EPA Criminal Investigations Division with assistance from U.S. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine M. Calogero and G. Dall Kammer are prosecuting this case.