Fishing firm fined over Plymouth diesel spill
Interfish admitted causing the largest pollution incident to occur in Plymouth Sound for more than a decade.
Plymouth magistrates heard that several people suffered nausea, stinging eyes and headaches because of fumes caused by oil which stretched from Laira Bridge to the Hoe. Five oiled swans had to be rescued but they all made a full recovery and there was no long-term environmental damage from the spill from Interfish's Wiron 1, berthed at Victoria Wharves in Cattedown.
The ship's Dutch marine engineer Rene Van Rijn, aged 25, who was not present in court, admitted the same charge – disposing of oil in a manner likely to cause pollution or harm to human health.
His solicitor Gareth Evans said Van Rijn admitted his 'sole responsibility' for the spillage. Magistrates fined Interfish £20,000 and ordered that the company pay £3,000 costs. Van Rijn was fined £1,500 and ordered to pay £700 costs.
Syan Ventom, prosecuting on behalf of the Environment Agency, said the Wiron 1 was berthed alongside its sister ship Wiron 2 at Victoria Wharves on October 15 last year.
Marine engineer Van Rijn, the only person on board Wiron 1, decided to transfer fuel between the boat's fuel tanks at about 11pm.
Mr Ventom said an alarm sounded, warning that fuel in the tank taking the diesel had reached a high level, but Van Rijn cancelled the alarm.
By chance, an alarm for the refrigeration system of the Wiron 2 sounded and Van Rijn, as the only engineer on board either vessel, went across to fix the problem. He returned to the Wiron 2 an hour and a half later, at about 12.30am, but forgot about the fuel transfer and went to bed without turning off the pump.
Mr Ventom added that as soon as Van Rijn awoke at 6am the next day he smelled the diesel in the water and raised the alarm.
He added that Interfish was legally responsible as the engineer's employer, and because it had failed to install a system which automatically cut off fuel if it reached a high level.
The Environment Agency had formally warned the company after a similar but far smaller pollution incident in 2007.
Mr Evans said Van Rijn was unable to attend court because he was on another company's fishing boat off the coast of Africa.
He added: "He accepted his sole responsibility for this spillage from the moment it happened."
Mr Evans said Van Rijn could not offer an explanation for the mistake, save that he had been working a 16-hour day. He and Interfish had since 'parted ways', though he had not been dismissed.
Tom Bradnock, for Interfish, said all staff including Van Rijn had been told after the earlier minor spillage not to leave fuel transfer operations unattended and to carry them out only in normal working hours. The spill would not have happened had Van Rijn followed instructions.
The company had since installed failsafe alarms which automatically switched off a pump if the tank was overflowing, said Mr Bradnock, and prompt action by Interfish had contained much of the pollution behind booms.
Fleet manager Andrew Pillar said after the case: "On behalf of the company, we regret the incident and are very sorry that it ever happened. The court has recognised that the company's swift action was the major factor in ensuring no long-lasting damage to the environment."
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