The three were among the 13 merchant seamen of the Greek tanker Fair Voyager — eight crewmembers from the Philippines, one from Russia and four officers from Greece — who were detained by federal authorities investigating whether their vessel illegally dumped oil into the ocean before arriving in New York Harbor from Spain last Nov. 21.

The men were detained at the Ramada Hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens pending the case.

In what she termed was an unprecedented ruling by her Court, Wood ordered 2nd Engineer Johnny Soloma, 3rd Engineer Joseph Labrador and 4th Engineer Ricardo Noya released with no jail sentence, no probation and no fine.

In ordering their release, the judge cited the engineers’ “unblemished character histories” and the Office of the U.S. Attorney’s confirmation that the three Filipino engineers have been very cooperative to the government in its investigation.

The judge declared that “the major factor considered in sentencing was that the [seafarers] cooperated fully with the government leading to the conviction of those truly responsible.”

The ship company was fined $1.5 million, including the amount for environmental damages.

Most of the crew and officers have already been allowed to leave the United States. The three Filipino engineers and another officer of the vessel were required to stay in the U.S. to face perjury charges for lying to the grand jury.

The three engineers had denied before the grand jury that the vessel had illegally dumped oil in U.S. waters.

They, however, later admitted to lying to the grand jury and, from then on, cooperated fully with U.S. authorities in the investigation.

The seafarers explained that their initial denials were mainly borne out of fear of being blacklisted by ship companies and manning agencies, and of losing their source of livelihood. They said they felt pressured to support their superiors’ statements to the grand jury out of loyalty to their officers and in order to minimize the company’s liability. They expressed to the court their remorse for their earlier statements.

The three also expressed relief and joy that after nine months of detention, they would finally be reunited with their families in the Philippines.

The seafarers thanked Consul General Cecilia Rebong for the Consulate’s assistance and support during their stay in New York.

The Philippine Consulate assisted the seafarers in representations with U.S. authorities and in securing character references for the three engineers which were submitted to the Court.

The Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs has requested the POEA to include in its pre-departure and other relevant seminars to Filipino seafarers a discussion of relevant maritime pollution laws and regulations.