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Ship's Chief Engineer Sentenced for False Waste Oil Records
Release Date: 8/8/2002
Contact Information: Luke C. Hester
hester.luke@epa.gov
(202) 564-7818
August 8, 2002
HQ-R-150
Pyeong Gab Jung of Korea, chief engineer of the Motor Vessel Cygnus, an automobile transport ship, pleaded guilty on July 25 to making false waste oil disposal statements in the ship's record book. He was immediately sentenced to serve three months in prison, following which he will be deported to Korea. Jung fraudulently recorded in the ships's oil record book that waste oil was being incinerated in the ship's incinerator when, instead, it was being discharged into the Pacific Ocean via a secret bypass hose. The Cyngus is owned by Feng Lee Maritime Corp. of Panama City and is operated by Fujitran Corp. of Japan. At the time of the release, it was under charter to ToyoFuji Shipping Co., Ltd., a company jointly owned by Toyota Motor Co., Toyota Shipping Co., Ltd. and Fujitrans Corp. The discharge of oil into the ocean can be harmful to aquatic life. Federal charges, which are merely an accusation, have also been filed against the ship's first assistant engineer, Duk Jo Jung, for his alleged role in concealing the illegal discharge of oil from the Cygnus.
The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Coast Guard, the FBI and the Washington State Department of Ecology. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's office in Portland and the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
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