Photo Credit: Andy Newman
Carnival Cruise Lands In Hot Water
Reaching a settlement on Monday with federal prosecutors, one of the world’s largest cruise line, Carnival Corp., agreed to pay a $20 million penalty because its ships have continued to pollute the oceans despite previous criminal convictions.
The agreement was approved by senior U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz after Carnival CEO Arnold Donald admitted the company’s responsibility for probation violations.
Carnival admitted to violating terms of probation from a 2016 criminal conviction where the cruise line was caught discharging oily waste from its Princess Cruise Lines ships and trying to cover it up. Carnival was forced to pay a $40 million fine and was put on five years’ probation. This had a huge effect on all nine of its cruise brands, all of which make up more than 100 ships.
More recently, Carnival ships have been polluting in prohibited places such as Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park as well as knowingly discharging plastic and food waste in the Bahamas. The company also admitted to falsifying compliance documents and committing other administrative violations.
Other than just paying a million-dollar penalty, Carnival promised to restructure the company’s compliance and training programs, implement a better system for reporting environmental violations to state and federal agencies along with adopting better waste management practices.
By: Maytinee Kramer
