The owners of a fishing vessel, which caused an oil spill in American Samoa, have been fined just over over US$1 million by the US Justice Department.
Pago Pago, American Samoa Photo: Wikipedia
Tri Marine Management, Tri-Marine Fishing Management and Cape Mendocino Fishing have agreed to pay the civil penalties and to perform fleet-wide inspections.
The spill occurred in Pago Pago Harbour a year ago when a vessel suffered an electrical failure in its throttle controls during docking which resulted in a collision with other vessels at the dock.
Tri Marine Group's president Renato Curto says the company is committed to leading the industry in not only meeting the letter of the law, but exceeding it in many areas of our business.
He also says that humans make mistakes despite these best intentions.
