The captain of cargo ship Victoria Harbour (IMO 9589229) was fined a total of €12,000 by a Rouen court on April 2nd, 2021, for having discharged 5,000 tonnes of ballast water into the Seine in December 2018. He was convicted on March 15th for carrying out unballasting in the port of Rouen.
The Chinese national was fines €8,000 for damages and €4,000 to be paid to the civil parties concerned, which comprised the organizations France Nature Environment and France Nature Environment Normandy.
On December 20th 2018, the ship was berthed in the port of Canteleu in order to load 12,000 tonnes of wheat, bound for Cuba. A routine check was carried out by inspectors from the Ship Safety Centre, which brought to light the unballasting offence.
The captain was placed in police custody and admitted having loaded 9,000 tonnes of ballast water in the port of Algiers and dumping 5,000 tonnes into the Seine to ensure the stability of his ship when loading.
France’s environmental code requires that deballasting be carried out at least 200 nautical miles from the nearest coast and where water is at least 200 metres deep.
2011-built, Hong Kong-flagged, 18,465 gt Victoria Harbour is owned by Hope Bulkship SA care of manager Uni Ships & Management Ltd of Hong Kong, China. ISM manager is Wealth Ocean Ship Management of Shanghai, China.