BANGOR — The U.S Justice Department has dropped charges that a Cyprus-registered ship and a crew member illegally discharged oil when the vessel was docked in Eastport.

Last month Lemissoler Ship Management Ltd. of Cyprus and the crew member were charged with falsifying a logbook for the ship Margit Gorthon when it was in Maine in February, removing a gauge so an alleged discharge of bilge oil waste could not be detected and ordering two crew members to lie to authorities.

Earlier this month, prosecutors with the Environmental Crimes Section at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington asked a judge to dismiss the charges without providing a reason.

The Bangor Daily News says that on Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge John Rich III in Portland granted the motion.


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