Two international shipping companies pleaded guilty to violating maritime pollution laws and were sentenced to pay a combined $1.75 million fine for discharging oily waste into the sea, according to a federal court in Pennsylvania.
MSC Shipmanagement Limited, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) for conduct involving the motor vessel MSC Samira III between June 2024 and January 2025. The vessel's owner, Hong Kong Spirit Shipping and Trading Limited, also pleaded guilty to two counts of violating APPS.
Both companies were sentenced to four years of probation in addition to the fine. A second engineer on the vessel, Mikhail Tsurikov, previously pleaded guilty to violating APPS and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 10.