A spill of about 65 litres of oily mixture occurred at Montreal when the Chief Engineer forgot to close a valve when pumping bilges to the slop tank. The ship was fined $5000 on December 7, 1992.
(d) ICEPEARL - September 13, 1992
After divers discovered oil coming from the sea chest when the vessel was at Surrey, B.C., an investigation found that dirty ballast had been discharged resulting a spill of about 1 barrel of oily mixture. The ship entered a plea of guilty and was fined $1000 on October 21, 1992.
15.3 Pollution Incidents and Prosecutions in 1993
(a) Table VI shows a breakdown of the number of reports received by Coast Guard region. Tables VII, VIII, IX and X are similar but break down the number of incidents by the ship type, spill size, cause of the spill and the type of pollutant respectively.
(b) Table XI shows a summary of pollution reports and prosecutions for 1993.
(c) Table XII lists the maximum and minimum fines for the pollution cases concluded during 1993 where the accused was found guilty; the information is broken down by the cause of the pollution. The average fine of $5,937 was slightly higher than the average fine imposed over the 14-year period from 1979 through 1992, which was $4,849.
(d) In cases where ships which are in transit or leaving a Canadian port are spotted polluting, usually by aerial surveillance, through international agreements (MARPOL and previously QILPOL) evidence can be gathered and forwarded to the flag state of the ship for their action. During 1993, 13 cases were referred to the flag state and responses were received from 3 flag states indicating that a total of $11,000 in fines had been imposed, as indicated in Table XI.
(e) Table XIII lists the 34 incidents that occurred prior to 1993 where charges were laid and the final determination occurred in 1993.
(f) Details of the 699 incidents reported during 1993 are listed in Tables XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII and XIX for the six Coast Guard regions.
15.4 Incidents of Particular Interest in 1993
The following incidents and prosecutions of interest occurred during 1993.
(a) BEHRAM KAPTAN - December 6, 1991
It was estimated that the vessel had pumped 1200 gallons of bilge oil in English Bay, Vancouver, B.C. Samples of the oil matched and the ship was fined $20,000 on April 7, 1993. The ship also paid the clean up costs which were about $45,000.
(b) SKRIM - March 13, 1992
The vessel suffered ice damage in the Cabot Strait while inbound for Sept-Iles and spilled 123 tonnes of heavy bunker oil. The vessel proceeded to Halifax for repairs. As it was considered that the spill was caused by excessive speed in ice-covered waters, that reporting was untimely, and that tanks were not sounded on realising the damage, the ship was charged with polluting and fined $35,000 on January 18, 1993. Clean-up costs were $125,000.
(c) TUPI ANGRA - March 18, 1992
It was estimated that the ship had pumped 1000 litres of bilge oil at Section 52 in the Port of Quebec using a general service pump. The ship was fined $20,000 on May 4, 1993.
