Senior Magistrate Will Francis took a strong line and handed out a hefty $30,000 fine to the captain of a ship responsible for spilling oil in Bermuda waters.

The penalty, handed down in Magistrates' Court yesterday, came as Junior Crown counsel Veronica Gordon pointed out how important the marine welfare is to Bermuda tourism.

The spill from the ship, Pascale Delmas , took place on November 22 last year -- sometime in the early morning. According to Ms Gordon, Marine Police noticed "a large black sheen of diesel oil'' on the surface of water in Murray's Anchorage, off St. George's, around 8:30 a.m.

The officers also saw the Pascale Delmas leaving the area and noted the slick was "some two miles by half a mile''.

The court also learned that wind conditions that morning were moving the slick toward the shoreline.

Harbour Radio were alerted to the problem and ordered the vessel back to Murray's Anchorage at which time Marine Police went aboard and questioned the Polish captain, Janusz Surewisz.

Ms Gordon reported that the captain readily admitted guilt, but explained that he had thought the problem was confined to the ship itself and had not realised any spillage had gone into the sea.

While not in court yesterday, Surewisz was represented by lawyer Jerome Dill.

Mr. Dill called the Crown's request for a fine between $20,000 and $30,000 "unprecedented for this type of damage''. Mr. Dill also pointed out that the spill "was only of 25 gallons of oil'' and "had occurred somewhere between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. when it is dark''.

Mr. Dill also drew Mr. Francis' attention to a bill of close to $30,000 that his client had already willingly paid for clean-up of the slick.

"Ag and Fish, Marine & Ports, the Police Marine section, the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation, Esso Bermuda, Shell Bermuda and the Bermuda Biological Station all submitted bills which in total came to $29,905.90,'' said Mr. Dill.

He further contended that his clients on his advice had done "all they could'' to rectify the situation and he suggested that there was no precedent for the suggested fine. He also pointed out that fines not exceeding $9,000 had been handed out in the case of soot emissions by ships on Front Street, and held that the spill was "far less damaging''.

Countering those arguments, Ms Gordon pointed out that the ship's captain had done "the very least he could'' in paying the clean-up costs as he knew he would not be allowed back into the Island unless he did.

"Your honour, Bermuda is suffering from a tourism standpoint and I do note that the oil was coming toward the shoreline,'' she said.

Mr. Francis, in handing out the fine, noted that he did take into consideration the near $30,000 the ship had already paid out for clean-up costs.

"Otherwise,'' he said "I would have been minded to set down a fine more in the $50,000 region.''