Fleet Management Ltd. was charged with six felony counts of making false statements and obstructing justice. Prosecutors announced the indictment on Wednesday.
Unidentified "senior ship officers and shore-based supervisory officials concealed and covered up documents with an intent to impede, obstruct and influence the investigation of the spill," according to a Department of Justice summary of the indictment.
Among the allegedly falsified documents were the ship's passage plan for its scheduled Nov. 7 journey from the Port of Oakland to South Korea, and for two trips a few days before the crash.
Under U.S. law, passage plans are required for each voyage. Fleet Management "falsified and forged these plans after the crash and concealed and covered up the real ship records," prosecutors said.
The indictment also charges Fleet Management with two counts of misdemeanor crimes under the Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for negligently causing the crash, which dumped 53,000 gallons of toxic bunker fuel into the bay. The spill killed and injured thousands of birds and fouled beaches throughout Northern California.
Under the latest environmental crimes indictment, Fleet Management is charged as a co-defendant alongside Capt. John Cota, the ship pilot whose job was to guide the giant container vessel from the port out to sea.
Cota has been charged with two felony counts of lying to Coast Guard officials about his prescription drug use and two misdemeanor environmental crimes.
