SAN FRANCISCO: Norwegian firm DSD Shipping, and some of its employees, faced further charges in America, all relating to alleged environmental crimes and their cover ups.
The company, full name Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab, was indicted in a US court on May 13 charged with obstructing justice and with environmental crimes.
Back then a federal grand jury in Mobile, Alabama returned a seven-count indictment on the Stavanger-based firm. Four engineers – one Romanian and three Chinese – were also indicted.
This latest three-count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in Lafayette, Louisiana, and it charges DSD Shipping and the employees with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and obstruction of justice in connection with the illegal discharge of contaminated waste-water from its vessel the Stavanger Blossom directly into the sea.
If convicted, DSD Shipping could be fined up to $500,000 per count, in addition to other possible penalties.
The four charged officers – Daniel Paul Dancu (51) of Romania, Bo Gao (49), Xiaobing Chen (34) and Xin Zhong (28), all of China – face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the obstruction of justice charges.
