AmericasEnvironmentTankers

Norway’s DSD Shipping faces further US indictments

San Francisco: Norwegian firm DSD Shipping, and some of its employees, faced further charges in America on Friday, all relating to alleged environmental crimes and their cover ups.

The company, full name Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab, was indicted in a US court on May 13 charged with obstructing justice and with environmental crimes.

Back then a federal grand jury in Mobile, Alabama returned a seven-count indictment on the Stavanger-based firm. Four engineers – one Romanian and three Chinese – were also indicted.

This latest three-count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Lafayette, Louisiana, and it charges DSD Shipping and the employees with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and obstruction of justice in connection with the illegal discharge of contaminated waste-water from its vessel the Stavanger Blossom directly into the sea.

If convicted, DSD Shipping could be fined up to $500,000 per count, in addition to other possible penalties.

The four charged officers – Daniel Paul Dancu (51) of Romania, Bo Gao (49), Xiaobing Chen (34) and Xin Zhong (28), all of China – face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the obstruction of justice charges.

Donal Scully

With 28 years experience writing and editing for newspapers in the UK and Hong Kong, Donal is now based in California from where he covers the Americas for Splash as well as ensuring the site is loaded through the Western Hemisphere timezone.
Back to top button