World

Japanese Fishing Firm Fined $1.5Mln for Breaking US Pollution Laws

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The Japanese Fukuichi Fishing Company has received a $1.5 million fine and a five-year ban for breaking US pollution laws with its discharges of waste in territorial waters, the Department of Justice said in a press release on Thursday.
Sputnik

"A Japanese fishing company, Fukuichi Gyogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Fukuichi), was convicted and sentenced today in the District of Guam," the release said. "Owner and Operator ordered to pay a fine of $1.5 million and will be banned from US waters and ports for five years."

The Justice Department explained the Japanese company was convicted of two violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and one count of obstruction of an agency proceeding.

The charges stemmed from discharges of waste oil and oily bilge water from the "Fukuichi Maru No. 112" into international waters and an effort to cover them up when the ship was later inspected by the US Coast Guard in Guam, the Justice Department said.

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