Greek shipping company agrees to pay $2.7M fine in New Orleans pollution case

Greek shipping company to pay $2.7M fine

NEW ORLEANS — A Greek shipping company has pleaded guilty in a New Orleans court to violating federal anti-pollution laws and agreed to pay a $2.7 million fine.

Wednesday’s guilty pleas by Polembros Shipping stem from a Coast Guard investigation last year of a cargo ship that had a fuel leak before arriving in New Orleans.

The ship’s captain, Greek citizen Panagiotis Lekkas, pleaded guilty in July to charges he knew about the fuel leak last year but failed to report it to the Coast Guard.

One of the terms of the company’s plea agreement is that its ships will be barred from entering U.S. ports and territorial waters for three years.

The Justice Department says the case was the first to be prosecuted under an anti-invasive species law.