Shipping firm to pay £95k for palm oil pollution
A Singapore-based shipping company has been fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £75,000 in costs after palm oil waste from one of its tankers washed up on beaches in Sussex
Pretty Time Shipping, which is owned by Parakou Ship Management, was found guilty of pollution offences by Southampton Magistrates’ Court after an investigation revealed that lumps of yellow waxy material found on beaches in East and West Wittering was palm oil residue from its tanker “Pretty Time”.
In January 2011, the Environment Agency was called into investigate the waxy pollution that had appeared overnight on the Sussex coastline, while the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) was told of cargo handling issues aboard the Petty Time.
An onboard inspection of the ship by MCA officers and chemical analysis confirmed the polluting material had come from the vessel when tanks used to hold palm oil were cleaned.
While palm oil can be discharged into the sea legally, if the ship is at least 12 miles from land and in water at least 25 metres deep, the inspectors concluded the waste had not been disposed of according to legislative requirements.
The firm pleaded not guilty to pollution offences under the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous or Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk) Regulations 1996, but was convicted on the strength of the evidence from the MCA and the EA.
Douglas MacDonald, head of environmental and emergency response standards at the MCA said the case was a timely reminder to all ship owners and ship managers that residues of cargoes must be disposed of correctly.
Following the conviction, Pretty Time Shipping and Parakou Ship Management released a statement accepting the verdict and stressing that both companies previously had an “unblemished safety and environmental record”.
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