Norwegian shipowner Georg Eide has been sentenced to six months in prison over a 2017 attempt to sneak a ship out of the country for beaching.
Norwegian daily newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv reported today that the Sunnhordland district court had delivered the sentence along with a fine of NOK 2m for an Eide-owned company and NOK 10,000 in costs for himself.
The sentence and fine were lighter than the nine months and NOK 3m that prosecutors originally demanded, but officials of Okokrim, Norway's economic and environmental crimes unit, will not appeal.
Landmark
"We are satisfied," said acting prosecutor Maria Bache Dahl to Dagens Naeringsliv reporters. "It is important to win convictions in cases of this kind. As far as I know, this is the first time a Norwegian party has been convicted in a beaching case like this one."
Eide declined to comment to the Norwegian reporters, saying he had yet to read the court's decision. He did not answer calls from TradeWinds.
At the centre of the case is Eide's former 38,200-dwt barge carrier Harrier (ex-Eide Carrier, built 1989).
After a decade in lay-up in a Norwegian fjord, the ship was sold to cash buyer Wirana Shipping, which allegedly attempted to sail the ship to Pakistan for demolition in February 2017. According to Norwegian prosecutors, this happened with Eide's knowledge and assistance.
The ship suffered a breakdown soon after the beginning of its voyage and was deemed at risk of causing a pollution incident off the Norwegian beaches of Jaeren, south of Stavanger.
Norway impounded the vessel and investigated the case, and only in January of this year brought charges against Eide and his Eide Marine Eiendom, among others including Skuld Marine Agency.
Second action
A separate action had also been brought against cash buyer Wirana Shipping, which had allegedly falsified papers to deceive Norwegian authorities about the ship's true destination and its seaworthiness.
From the time of the attempted export for scrapping in 2017, the ship remained in Norway under detention by investigating authorities.
Wirana then sent the ship for scrapping again, this time to Aliaga in Turkey to avoid violating European regulations and Norwegian laws against export of waste. But before reaching Aliaga, the ship was involved in a August 2018 pollution incident that saw Turkey arrest the ship and claim some $4m in clean-up costs.
In the Norwegian action against Wirana, the cash buyer agreed in October 2019 to pay a Norwegian fine of NOK 7m, but without acknowledging wrongdoing.
