The allegation follows the inspection of the 162,800-dwt Sestrea (built 2009) in Corpus Christi, Texas last month.
In a subsequent report the USCG argued that the oil content meter of the vessel’s oily water separator was bypassed, presumably with hoses and flanges.
The organisation claims this allowed effluent with an excessive oil content to flow directly into the ocean, which is a violation of Annex I of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Marpol).
In addition, the USCG said the port state control officers (PSCOs) who inspected the vessel uncovered inconsistencies when they compared sounding logs to entries in its oil record book.
“After further review PSCO's discovered that the weekly sounding log had different measurements than the oil record book for the past six months,” the agency added.
At the time of detention the Sestrea was controlled by Chandris, flagged in Liberia and classed by Lloyd’s Register, according to the Equasis database.
It’s unclear if the US Department of Justice intends to take legal action against the vessel, members of its crew or the operator, which is based in Athens.
In the past many of the magic pipe cases prosecuted by the US government have led to stiff fines. In some cases, penalties have topped $1m.
Attempts to reach Chandris for comment about the recent detention of the Sestrea were not immediately successful at the time of writing Tuesday.
To access the USCG’s latest list of port detentions click on the link located under the Related Media section to the right of this article.
