Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Oil tanker fined $250,000 for burning high sulfur fuel near St Croix

Oil tanker fined $250,000 for burning high sulfur fuel near St Croix

Ionian Management, which manages three vessels including M/T Ocean Princess, was sentenced on Wednesday, November 2, 2022, to pay a fine of $250,000 after pleading guilty to a violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.
According to U.S. Attorney for the V.I. Delia Smith, the New York-based company was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Wilma Lewis on St. Croix, and was also placed on probation for one year.

According to the District Court, while vessels are operating within the U.S. Caribbean Emissions Control Area (ECA), they must not use fuel that exceeds 0.10% sulfur by weight to help protect air quality. However, between Jan. 3, 2017, and July 10, 2018, the M/T Ocean Princess entered and operated within the ECA using fuel that contained excessive sulfur on twenty-six separate occasions.

The fuel was petroleum cargo that had been transferred to the fuel tanks as authorized by Ionian Management. Once authorized, the crew of the M/T Ocean Princess transferred the higher sulfur fuel from the cargo tanks into the bunker tanks and used it to fuel the vessel, even though it exceeded the 0.10% sulfur by weight maximum.

U.S. Coast Guard inspectors boarded the M/T Ocean Princess on July 10, 2018, to conduct an inspection. During the inspection, the U.S. Coast Guard discovered the vessel’s use of fuel with an excessive sulfur content.

“The sentence imposed on this commercial vessel manager for intentionally violating environmental laws designed to protect the air quality of the United States sends a strong message that the United States will not tolerate such violations and will hold violators accountable,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

“The pristine beauty of our Virgin Island waters is one of our most precious resources, essential to our tourism and our fragile marine ecosystem,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Kuhn for the District of the Virgin Islands. “Today’s sentencing of Ionian Management Inc. for its role in causing high sulfur fuel to be burned within the Caribbean Emissions Control Area, and here in the waters near St. Croix, sends a strong message to commercial managers of ships that such conduct will not be tolerated. To protect the territory of the Virgin Islands, we will continue to pursue criminal enforcement of environmental laws.”

“Ocean going vessels emit hazardous air pollutants or air toxics that are associated with adverse health effects impacting populations living near ports and coastlines,” said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Amon of EPA’s Criminal Enforcement Program in the Virgin Islands. “EPA, along with its law enforcement partners are committed to ensuring the shipping industry continues to comply with laws designed to protect air quality.”

“The results announced today send a strong message to anyone who seeks to take shortcuts and intentionally pollute our environment, and I couldn’t be prouder of the Coast Guard’s Resident Inspection Office in St. Croix and Sector San Juan marine inspectors who first identified the issue, as well as our Coast Guard Investigative Service agents who worked closely with the Environmental Protection Agency in San Juan to investigate this case,” said Rear Admiral Peter Brown, Commander of the Coast Guard, Seventh District. “We will continue to work with our Department of Justice and environmental protection partners to hold accountable any who put profit above the protection of our waters, beaches and the air above them for future generations.”

The M/T Ocean Princess was owned by Lily Shipping Ltd. and operated by Ionian Shipping and Trading, both Greece-domiciled companies. These two companies previously pleaded guilty to felony violations related to the use of non-compliant fuel and falsification of records and were sentenced to pay a combined criminal fine of $3,000,000, serve a three-year period of probation, and implement an Environmental Compliance Plan, according to the District Court. The sentencing of Ionian M is the final chapter in this multi-year investigation and prosecution of the companies and individuals involved in the use of non-compliant, high-sulfur fuel in the operation and management of the M/T Ocean Princess.

The Coast Guard Investigative Service and the Environmental Protection Agency-Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation. Senior Trial Attorney Kenneth Nelson of the Environment and Natural Resource Division, Environmental Crimes Section, and Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Chisholm and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel H. Huston for the District of the Virgin Islands prosecuted the case.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×