IMC Shipping (Singapore) to pay a $10M fine for environmental damage

Singapore-based IMC Shipping has agreed to pay a $10M fine for environmental damage caused by the break-up of its cargo vessel Selendang Ayu in Alaska waters. The US Department of Justice yesterday revealed the deal that closes its case over the 8 December 2004 grounding of the 72,937dwt bulk carrier. The incident is being termed the second-worst maritime environmental disaster in the state’s history, only following the Exxon Valdez. Clean-up of the 1,100 tonnes of spilt oil was only completed last summer. "It was an extremely difficult clean-up," Gary Folley, who oversaw the effort for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, told the media. In addition to the oil, the vessel’s cargo of 60,000 tonnes of soybeans still litter the seabed off Unalaska Island, where the ship broke up after drifting following a loss of engine power. The plea deal must still be accepted by the presiding judge and does not end IMC’s legal worries from the casualty, as civil fines remain to be levied by state and federal agencies involved in the clean-up. Six crewmen perished in the incident while being evacuated by a USCG helicopter that was struck by a wave. Twenty others were successfully rescued.