Chief Engineer Sentenced to Prison Over Illegal Dumping, Obstruction of Justice

U.S. Coast Guard port state control officers the engine room of a bulk carrier, May 19, 2015. U.S. Coast Guard Photo

Chief Engineer Sentenced to Prison Over Illegal Dumping, Obstruction of Justice

Mike Schuler

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September 19, 2023

A judge in Southern California has sentenced the former chief engineer of the general cargo ship M/V Donald to serve twelve months and a day in prison after he was convicted of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice and failure to maintain an accurate oil record book.

A jury found Chief Engineer Denys Korotkiy of Russia guilty of the charges in June.

Evidence presented in court showed that Korotkiy and others engaged in the illegal dumping of oily bilge water directly into the ocean through the vessel’s sewage holding tank, bypassing the required pollution prevention equipment.

Oily bilge water typically contains oil contamination from the vessel’s machinery operation and cleaning. The illicit discharges were not documented in the vessel’s Oil Record Book, as mandated by law. Additionally, Korotkiy was found to have made false entries in the Oil Record Book, falsely claiming transfers of oily bilge had occurred when, in reality, they had not. He also conspired with others to impede the United States Coast Guard’s inspection and investigation into the mishandling of oily bilge water on board the Donald.

Interunity Management (Deutschland) GMBH, the Donald’s operating company, has been sentenced for maintaining false and incomplete records related to the discharge of oily bilge water and was ordered to pay a total of $1.25 million, with a portion going towards marine and coastal natural resources in the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve.

The U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Diego and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service investigated the case.