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Ship's Captain, Chief Engineers Plead Guilty to Alaska Violations
Release Date: 6/21/2002
Contact Information: Luke Hester
hester.luke@epamail.epa.gov
(202) 564-7818
June 21, 2002
HQ R-124
Three defendants pleaded guilty to violations resulting from illegal activities that stemmed from the dumping of oil and sludge into ocean waters in and around Alaska. Doo Hyun Kim, captain of the Motor Vessel Khana, pleaded guilty on June 12 to obstruction of justice; In Ho Kim, chief engineer of the Khana, pleaded guilty on May 31 to making false records and witness tampering; and Je Yong Lee, chief engineer on the Motor Vessel Soho, pleaded guilty on May 28 to making false records, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
The Khana and Soho were registered in Panama and were used for the shipment of frozen seafood to Asia. In February, the U.S. Coast Guard detained the vessels in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to inspect them for possible violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships. During Coast Guard on-board inspections, inspectors found oil laden bypass hoses believed to be used to circumvent the ships' oil water separators. Oil water separators are required ship pollution control devices that prevent oil discharges, which can harm fish and other aquatic life. The defendants interfered with the investigation by telling crew members to lie to investigators about the bypass hoses and by maintaining false oil record books.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard, EPA's Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI with the assistance of EPA's National Enforcement Investigations Center. This case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's office in Anchorage and the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
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