Cracked Cargo Ship Leads To $1.25M Fine

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A German company has been fined more than $1 million after its cargo ship entered the Port of Long Beach with a cracked hull that could have caused an oil leak.

The U.S. attorney's office says the Dauelsberg company pleaded guilty Thursday to two federal environmental charges. It was fined $1 million and ordered to pay another $250,000 to an environmental fund.

The company's 960-foot cargo ship, the M/V Bellavia, hit the side of the Panama Canal last fall and received a hull crack that led to a fuel tank.

Authorities say the company didn't report the crack when the ship arrived in Long Beach a few weeks later. It also failed to report that the crew had pumped 120,000 gallons of oil-contaminated seawater into the ocean before the arrival.