THE US Department of Justice has announced that a Singapore-based tanker operator has pleaded guilty in a California district court to illegally dumping oil bilge into the sea while on route from the Philippines to the port of Richmond. According to the department, Unix Line PTE Ltd's 16,408-ton tanker, Zao Galaxy, dumped the oily bilge overboard between its departure from the Philippines on January 21, 2019, and arrival at the port on February 11, 2019. The ship was carrying a shipment of palm oil at the time, reported American Shipper. When US Coast Guard officers boarded the ship at Richmond, they discovered that during the voyage a Unix Line-affiliated ship officer ordered the crew to discharge oily bilge water overboard using a contraption of drums, flexible pipe and flanges to bypass the vessel's oil water separator. The discharges were not recorded in the Zao Galaxy's oil record book. Unix Line's action violated the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, the Justice Department said.