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The captain of a commercial oil tanker has pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging him with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and for obstructing proceedings, the US Department of Justice confirmed via a press statement on Tuesday, June 11. Abdurrahman Korkmaz, a 37-year-old Turkish national, was the captain of PS Dream, a Panama-flagged motor tanker. The two related companies that operated PS Dream pleaded guilty last month to environmental crimes.
PS Dream arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 26, 2023. The US Coast Guard conducted an inspection, which included a review of the vessel's oil record books.
In his plea, Korkmaz acknowledges presenting the books to the coast guard knowing that they omitted information about discharging oily waste to the ocean before arriving in the United States. The falsified logs were intended to conceal the fact that beginning on January 11, the crew had dumped oil-contaminated waste overboard on the voyage to New Orleans and was not complying with international treaties regulating oil pollution from ships.
According to documents and statements filed in court, Korkmaz ordered his crew to pump overboard from the residual oil tank that contained oily waste. A portable pump placed inside the tank and connected to a long flexible hose was used to discharge directly into the ocean without any required pollution prevention equipment or monitoring. The waste oil, including sludge, originated in the engine room and had been improperly transferred into the residual oil tank on the deck of the ship by a prior crew.
Senior managers at Prive Shipping and Prive Shipping Denizcilik Ticaret – two related companies that operated the ship – were aware that the oil-contaminated waste remained in the tank and were informed by Korkmaz that it had been dumped overboard. Both companies pleaded guilty and are scheduled for sentencing on September 26.
Korkmaz is scheduled to be sentenced on September 10. He faces a maximum penalty of six years in prison, with a fine of up to US$250,000, or twice the gain or loss from the offense, for the APPS charge. He also faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, with a fine of up to US$250,000, or twice the gain or loss from the offense, for the obstruction charge. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
