MSC Shipmanagement Ltd and the owner of the MSC Samira III have been ordered to pay a combined $1.75 million fine after pleading guilty to violations involving the illegal discharge of oily waste into the ocean.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the violations occurred aboard MSC Samira III between June 2024 and January 2025. Senior engine-room officers allegedly directed the discharge of oily bilge waste overboard and failed to properly record the operations in the vessel’s oil record book.
The vessel’s owner, Hong Kong Spirit Shipping and Trading Ltd, also pleaded guilty to two counts under the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), alongside MSC Shipmanagement.
According to prosecutors, the crew subsequently presented inaccurate oil-record documentation to the U.S. Coast Guard during two calls at the Port of Philadelphia in January 2025. The case therefore involved both the alleged illegal discharges and the concealment of those activities through false records.
The two companies were sentenced to pay the combined $1.75 million penalty and will serve four years of probation. A second engineer, Mikhail Tsurikov, had previously pleaded guilty to an APPS violation and is scheduled for sentencing on September 10.
The case highlights the enforcement risks facing shipping companies operating in U.S. waters, particularly regarding compliance with international marine-pollution rules and accurate maintenance of oil record books.