By: Richard L. Smith
Two engineers from the Greek shipping company M/T Kriti Ruby have admitted to environmental violations that included discharging oily waste into the sea near Sewaren. 
The U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger and Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim made the announcement on Tuesday.
Federal officials said in a statement that Konstantinos Atsalis, 57, the chief engineer, and Sonny Bosito, 54, the second engineer, appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas in Newark federal court and entered guilty pleas.
Atsalis was charged with falsifying the vessel’s oil record book and violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships by discharging oily waste through the vessel's sewage system.
This included direct discharges near a petroleum offloading facility.
He also instructed crew members to conceal equipment used for transferring oily waste in anticipation of inspections.
According to federal officials, Bosito admitted to assisting in the concealment of these discharges by presenting a falsified oil record book to the U.S. Coast Guard and instructing the crew on how to hide relevant equipment before inspections.
These environmental infractions carry a severe penalty, with both engineers facing up to six years in prison and fines up to $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from their actions, whichever amount is greater.
The sentencing is scheduled for October 22.
