June 2017 | nautilusint.org | telegraph | 19
MEMBERS AT WORK
A story of speaking out at sea… Picture: Thinkstock
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Fresh out of college after a cadetship with Clyde Marine, Officer X thought he had landed a dream job when he secured a post as third engineer with Princess Cruises. But the dream was to turn into a nightmare. ‘Lots of the guys on my course struggled to get a job at the end of it, so when I got this, it felt like the chance of a lifetime. I thought it was going to be fantastic — working for a big company, with a uniform, responsibility and the whole package.’ But a few weeks into his contract onboard Caribbean Princess, Officer X began to have a few concerns — notably over difficulties with the operation of the oily water separator. ‘Everyone experiences difficulties with machinery, and your job as an engineer onboard is working with motormen and other members of the crew to keep a good record of how the machinery is working and how it is being maintained,’ he recalled. ‘I noticed a few discrepancies which prompted a few questions. I took a bit of time to look into it, and to me it really didn’t add up. When your bilge machinery is not performing, you have to work a bit harder and it was frustrating to see it was not doing what it should do. ‘I looked at how we were setting it up, how we were maintaining it and talked with some of the other crew — in particular the watchkeeper I was handing over to,’ he said. ‘Then, one day there was a full tank of bilge and the next day it was gone. I thought I needed to revalidate everything I had seen and try to work out what was happening.’ His suspicions were confirmed after he noticed a flexible hose leading to the top of a grey water tank. He took some photographs and video on his mobile phone, as well as getting a picture of the control room computer display showing the discharge from the oily bilge water tank and the discharge through the OWS, with a steady concentration of oil and no alarms. He realised that clean sea water was being pumped overboard through the OWS at the same time as the illegal bypass took place — to create a digital record to cover up the discharge. ‘Bringing all these things together, with the computer logs and the tank levels, hit the nail on the head for me,’ Officer X said. ‘It was pretty instant as soon as I saw the hose that was normally never there. It immediately made sense of what was happening. ‘As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to do something about it,’ he added. ‘I was an engineer onboard, my name is in the record book and I could be dragged into it.’ On the following day, when he discovered that the pipe had been cut and modified, Officer X decided to act. ‘When I saw the modification, I knew it was time to pack my bag and get off the ship. ‘I talked it through with my partner — who is now my wife — who was on the ship with me, and she gave me her full confidence and support — it was the right thing to do. ‘I went straight to the MCA in Southampton and explained everything. They seemed a bit shocked, but they took it all very seriously and were swift and supportive. They asked lots of questions and did a wonderful job. I gave my evidence and thought that was it, but then I was told the US Coast Guard wanted to question me.’ Officer X said he sought initial advice from Nautilus, but decided when he was talking to the US authorities that he did not need any assistance. ‘That said, I felt very much at ease knowing that I could call on Nautilus at any time for assistance if it was required, or I was out of my depth,’ he added.
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‘I didn’t really think of the consequences of what I was doing and that my career could be over before it had really begin,’ he said. ‘I just knew that I had to report such blatant law-breaking.’ In making the $1m whistleblower award to Officer X, the US authorities pointed out: ‘Deliberate violations of MARPOL and United States law are far too common. Criminal conduct that takes place within the small community of those living and working aboard vessels is very difficult to detect. ‘Each year, thousands of seafarers participate in, or are aware of, illegal conduct aboard their vessels,’ the court papers added. ‘A tiny minority choose to take active measures to stop the wrongdoing and bear witness.’ The US government said the reward scheme reflected ‘the realities of life at sea’ and the likelihood that whistleblowers could face physical harm or abuse, as well as the threat of not finding another job. Caribbean Princess illegally discharged some 4,227 gallons of oily waste 23 miles off the UK south coast in August 2013 Picture: Gary Davies / Maritime Photographic
The Nautilus member who was awarded US$1m for ‘whistleblowing’ over illicit waste dumping from a Princess Cruises vessel tells the Telegraph how he hopes the case will serve as a ‘watershed’ for the industry and encourage other seafarers to follow his example… The US authorities noted that Officer X had provided ‘invaluable’ information — pointing out that he had reported the suspicious activities as soon as he could, rather than waiting until the ship arrived in the States. He cooperated fully with the investigations, without any conditions and with no promises of any reward, and the authorities also described how ‘his concern and fear throughout the video recordings is palpable’.
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‘I didn’t do it to get money,’ Officer X told the Telegraph. ‘My immediate reaction was just to get off the ship and report it. The UK MCA doesn’t offer any reward scheme for whistleblowing, and I reported this incident in the UK for an act that occurred within the UK. My actions were never financially motivated, and I acted immediately after
witnessing the discharge. There was a very tense atmosphere in the control room and I was very isolated. I thought of reporting it to the chief or the captain, or the environmental officer, but I didn’t feel that it would be treated seriously and the guys that had been involved in this were senior officers. ‘What I had witnessed was so disappointing for me. I had thought I was working for a really good company and that I could make a great career for myself using all the skills I had acquired at college. ‘When I was studying at Glasgow we were told all about the old practices and how the laws had been changed to protect the seas — I thought deliberate pollution was a thing of the past and couldn’t believe what I had discovered. You live, work and socialise with these guys, and you simply don’t expect that they would be doing anything like this.
Stub pipes found on Caribbean Princess’s grey water system Pictures: US Department of Justice
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Officer X said he was amazed to hear the investigations that were triggered by his report had revealed that four other ships in the Princess fleet had also been regularly violating the MARPOL Convention when grey water tanks overflowed into the bilges and what should have been treated as oil-contaminated waste was pumped overboard. He thinks the dumping was financially motivated — and the investigations revealed how engineer officers felt that they were working ‘inside a corporation where requisitions for new parts would be cut down’ and the shore-based superintendent would not want to pay the costs of properly disposing the waste through port reception facilities. ‘That the results showed lies and wrongdoing over such a long period of time gives me a great sense of relief that I acted when I did,’ he added. ‘It took a long time for the case to build, but it is good that it’s closed now and that action is being taken to punish a company that turned a blind eye for so long.’ Officer X said he has no regrets about his actions. ‘Things were difficult at first and we struggled for a while, but it was absolutely the right thing to do. If you keep your mouth shut, you will get dragged into it.’ Despite his experience, Officer X wants to continue working as a marine engineer. ‘I’ve always loved engineering — it’s like a hobby to me, and I really enjoy doing things like messing around with bikes,’ he explained. ‘I had trained as a mechanic and when I went to a jobs fair and came across a Clyde Marine stand, I thought that working at sea would be amazing. I really wanted the opportunity to be working on the massive machinery onboard, and I thought it seemed to offer a stable job market and a long-term career path. ‘Since it happened, I’ve done some relief work and have been working in a marine engineering environment overseas,’ he added. ‘I still want to stay in the industry — it’s still something I want to do.’ Officer X has a clear message to other seafarers. ‘I genuinely hope that this will serve as a wake-up call for the industry,’ he said. ‘I hope that it change the way people think about dumping stuff overboard and that it will encourage any other seafarer in my position, having the knowledge of illegal dumping onboard, to go ahead and report it. ‘Don’t think about what might or might not happen — you have a responsibility at sea,’ he added. ‘The environment is on the edge already and it is our job to protect the oceans where we work.’
24/05/2017 12:37