Specialising in Aluminium Boats & Barges 4-20 metres
FIRE!
AT AROUND 1740HRS on August 29 a fire broke out onboard the 60m purse seiner Ocean Breeze in the Lyttelton drydock. The trawler was under repair after being towed into port on August 9, by the tug Christine Mary.
Multiple fire appliances were called to fight the fire with many crews being called in from outlying areas to provide cover for the city of Christchurch and supply relief crews to the fire ground.
San Nikunau engineer faces up to 26 years jail
JAMES POGUE OF Idaho, former chief engineer on Sanford's tuna vessel San Nikunau, faces up to 26 years in jail for obstruction of justice and knowingly failing to maintain an accurate oil record book. Pogue was chief engineer on the vessel between 2001 and 2010 and has been convicted of failing to keep accurate records of how the vessel was managing bilge waste and falsely stating that pollution prevention equipment had been used when it hadn't.
Sanford was last week found guilty on six of seven counts relating to failure to properly maintain the San Nikunau's oil record book and obstruction of port state control inspections by the US Coast Guard during an investigation in American Samoa last year.
Each count carries a maximum penalty of US$500,000 meaning Sanford could be liable for fines of up to US$3 million. The company was found not guilty of one obstruction of justice charge, and a forfeiture claim against Sanford for US$24 million of proceeds from the fish catch was withdrawn. Sentencing is set down for November 16. Sanford managing director Eric Barratt said the company won't decide whether to appeal until after sentencing in November.
Another chief engineer who worked on the San Nikunau, Rolando Ong Vano of the Philippines, pleaded guilty to charges and will be sentenced on September 7. The charges were brought by the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the US Department of Justice. Sanford operates three large-scale freezer tuna purse seiners in the Pacific. The San Nikunau's catch was processed in Pago Pago.
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November/December 2012 Professional Skipper 43 GMS_NZPS_QPV_FCI.indd 1 21/09/2009 7:28:03 p.m.
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