Ship Captain Sentenced to Six Months

The captain of the M/V Theotokos was sentenced Thursday to six months in prison and four months community confinement after pleading guilty to one violation of environmental law and two violations of vessel safety laws in an October 2008 case.

Panageotis Lekkas also was ordered to pay a $4,000 fine in a case that included charges of illegal discharge of oily waste and operating the ship without informing the Coast Guard of a broken rudder.

Lekkas’ employer, Polembros Shipping Ltd., is expected to be fined $2.7 million on Dec. 9 in the Theotokos case. The court is adding the unusual stipulation that all vessels under the company’s management are barred from entering the United States or its territorial waters for three years.

The court also ordered Lekkas must leave the country upon release from confinement, and he will be barred from vessels entering U.S. waters for three years.

The ship’s chief officer and chief engineer also received prison sentences in the case.

Contact R.G. Edmonson at bedmonson@joc.com.