A court in the Western District of Louisiana has actually acquitted the Russian Master of an oil vessel on all costs connected to unlawful discharges from the vessel.

After investing greater than 19 months restrained in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Captain Vjaceslavs Birzakovs, Master of the oil vessel RIDGEBURY ALEXANDRA Z, will certainly currently have the ability to go back to Russia following his full pardon by a court on May 23, 2019, Birzakovs’ lawyer’s introduced today.

The Captain was charged of 6 criminal matters of government contamination and also blockage of justice pertaining to a Coast Guard examination of the RIDGEBURY ALEXANDRA Z for claimed MARPOL infractions.

The vessel’s driver, Interorient Marine Services Limited, was formerly condemned for stopping working to properly keep the Ridgebury Alexandra Z’sOil Record Book The firm was punished in February to pay a $2 million penalty and also offer 4 years of probation. During test, the firm confessed that oil freight deposits and also oily bilge water were unlawfully unloaded from the vessel straight right into the sea without being correctly refined with called for contamination avoidance devices. The firm additionally confessed that incorrect access were made in the vessel’s Oil Record Book to hide the unlawful unloading.

Captain Birzakovs was stood for by Jones Walker lawyers Michael W. Magner and also T.C. Wicker, IV, that aided protect the success complying with a 4 day court test prior to united state District Judge Jay C. Zainey in the Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette Division.

The six-count charge was bied far by a Grand Jury on November 29, 2018, affirming that Birzakovs guided circumvention of the vessel’s contamination avoidance devices, falsified documents, blocked justice, made incorrect declarations, and also conspired with various other crewmembers to misstate the vessel’s Oil Record Book and also to block the united state Coast Guard’s enforcement of the regulation.

Captain Birzakovs, in addition to 10 participants of the team and also police officers of the vessel, had actually been restrained in the South Louisiana location for 19 months about the instance. The Captain kept his virtue in any way times and also asked for a fast test.

Following simply 2 hrs of considerations, a court discovered Captain Birzakovs blameless on all 6 costs.

“I cooperated fully with the Coast Guard’s investigation and am very pleased but not at all surprised by the jury’s verdict,” Captain Birzakovs claimed. “I have always maintained my innocence and am grateful for the fair trial I received from the jury and Judge Zainey. I also want to thank my attorneys, Mike Magner and T.C. Wicker, of Jones Walker for their support and representation of me at trial,” he included.

“As a result of the fair treatment Captain Birzakovs received in the courts, he is now a believer in the American jury system,” claimedMagner “We are glad that he was vindicated and can now return home to his family and his career.”