Chief Engineer of Vessel Guilty of Obstruction and Violating Ship Pollution Prevention Laws Sentenced to 3 Months Imprisonment

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that FEI WANG “WANG,” age 38, pled guilty on January 24, 2025 to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and for obstructing proceedings, and was sentenced during the same proceeding to 3 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release and payment of a $200 mandatory special assessment fee.

WANG, a Chinese national, was the Chief Engineer of the M/V ASL Singapore, a Chinese-owned bulk carrier registered in Liberia and engaged in trade in the United States. The ASL Singapore arrived in New Orleans on February 26, 2024.  The U.S. Coast Guard conducted an inspection, which included review of the vessel’s Oil Record Books.  In his plea, WANG acknowledged presenting these books to the Coast Guard knowing they contained fraudulent entries and omitted information about discharging oily bilge water directly overboard before arriving in the United States. The falsified logs were intended to conceal the fact that since at least October 2023, when WANG boarded the vessel, the crew had dumped oily bilge water overboard directly from the bilge holding tank and was not complying with international treaties regulating oil pollution from ships.

According to court documents and statements, the crew used a portable pump and flexible hose—a so-called “magic pipe”—to dispose of oily bilge water in violation of MARPOL (the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships), and without the use of the appropriate pollution prevention equipment and monitoring.  This was done prior to WANG  boarding the vessel and continued while he was Chief Engineer, in charge of all engine room operations.  The vessel’s Oily Water Separator was never properly used during WANG’s time as Chief Engineer.

“Today's sentencing highlights the commitment of the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) to hold individuals accountable for violations of MARPOL, particularly in cases involving the discharge of oily waste,” stated Damon J. Youmans, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Coast Guard Investigative Service, Gulf Field Office. “CGIS will continue to collaborate with our partners from the Department of Justice's Environmental Crimes Division, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and the United States Coast Guard, Sector New Orleans to enforce environmental laws and investigate these offenses.”

The Coast Guard Investigative Service and the EPA Criminal Investigations Division investigated the case with assistance from U.S. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine M. Calogero of the General Crimes Unit, and G. Dall Kammer, Chief of the General Crimes Unit, are prosecuting the case.