A ship’s captain, chief engineer and superintendent were each fined Lm300 after they pleaded guilty to illegally dumping ash from the ship’s boiler on Saturday morning while the ship was docked at the Malta Shipyards.

Salah Rashwan, 50, from Egypt, and Dahech Ali, 42, and Lotfi Ben-Aissa, 53, from Tunisia, all pleaded guilty to illegally dumping the ash and, as a result, damaging several cars and boats.

Following their guilty plea, presiding magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna fined the three men Lm300 each.

Superintendent Raymond D’Anastas and senior inspector Anthony Cassar prosecuted while Dr John Refalo appeared for the three men. Dr Shazoo Ghaznavi appeared for the people who had suffered damage.