Appellate Court Affirms Conviction for Maintaining False Oil Record Book in U.S. Waters
On December 7, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the conviction of Nikolaos Vastardis, former Chief Engineer (“CE”) on the tank vessel EVRIDIKI, ruling that U.S. law imposes a duty on foreign flag vessels to ensure that their oil record book is accurate (or at least not knowingly inaccurate) when entering U.S. waters. The court held that although the challenged oil record book entries were made outside of U.S. waters on the high seas, that does not alter the key relevant fact that jury found that the oil record book in the case was knowingly false while in U.S. waters. The court noted that its decision follows similar conclusions by the Second and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeal.
The court further affirmed the Chief Engineer’s convictions for impeding a matter within the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard, impeding a government proceeding, and falsifying a material fact, based on the presentation of the false oil record book to the Coast Guard and his misrepresentations during the Coast Guard examination.
However, the court granted some relief to CE Vastardis, holding that the district court’s ordering that he be banished from the United States during his three-year probation period overstepped the Immigration and Nationality Act, which sets out the sole procedure through which foreigners may be deported from the United States. The court noted that the banishment would impinge upon CE Vastardis’s freedom of movement and drastically interfere with the livelihood of a foreign national. The court therefore vacated that condition of CE Vastardis’s probation.
In summary, the Third Circuit has now joined the Second and Fifth Circuit in concluding that a knowingly false entry in an oil record book made on the high seas, if carried into United States water, may constitute a criminal offense for which a seafarer (and by extension, the seafarer’s employer) may be prosecuted under United States law. The ruling underscores the importance of ensuring that oil record books are as accurate as possible before a vessel enters the United States.