The chief engineer of oil tanker Kriti Ruby pleaded guilty to charges related to dumping “oily waste” into the sea near a New Jersey shore, then covering up the pollution.
“Chief Engineer Konstantinos Atsalis, 56, pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS),” the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
Officials added that Atsalis “admitted that the vessel’s crew had knowingly bypassed required pollution prevention equipment by discharging oily waste from the vessel’s engine room through its sewage system into the sea, including near a petroleum offloading facility in Sewaren (N.J.).”
The Greek vessel’s second engineer, 54-year-old Sonny Bosito, also confessed to concealing the discharge of waste into the sea through the vessel’s sewage system by giving false information to the U.S. Coast Guard. Then he told crew members to hide equipment from inspectors, according to the Justice Department.
Both seamen will be sentenced Oct. 22. They face up to six years in prison and a fine of about $250,000.
Sewaren is situated in along the Arthur Kill waterway, which separates the nearly 3,000-person town from Staten Island.