US authorities have fined a ship operator $5,000 for an unauthorized ballast water discharge in waters in the US state of Oregon.

The infringement was discovered during a routine port state control ballast water examination on the 33,200 bulker Ansac Moon Bear (built 2017).

The US Coast Guard (USCG) discovered that the vessel had discharged untreated ballast water into the Willamette River, Portland on three separate occasions during port calls in 2017.