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PRINCESS CRUISE LINES will pay a €37 million ($40 million) fine for deliberately dumping waste into the seas it sails in and attempting to cover it up.
The fine imposed on the California company for polluting US waters with oil waste from the Caribbean Princess is the largest ever criminal penalty for deliberate vessel pollution, the US Justice Department said.
Princess Cruise Lines' Pacific Princess sails past Cunard's Queen Mary II in port at Southampton Docks Chris Ison
Chris Ison
“The pollution in this case was the result of more than just bad actors on one ship,” the department’s chief environmental prosecutor John Cruden said in a statement.
It reflects very poorly on Princess’s culture and management. This is a company that knew better and should have done better.
Prosecutors said the pollution was discovered after a recently-hired marine engineer on the Caribbean Princess revealed the existence of a “magic pipe” used in August 2013 to spew 4,227 gallons (16,000 liters) of oily waste off the coast of England.
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Curt Anderson
Curt Anderson
The US investigation began after British coast guard officials tipped off their American counterparts. The Caribbean Princess began making illegal discharges in 2005, a year after the ship entered service.
The ship’s chief engineer and senior first engineer ordered a coverup, including simultaneously discharging clean seawater so that digital records would indicate that a legitimate discharge had occurred, according to the Justice Department.
Investigators uncovered other illegal practices intended to hide oily discharges by the Caribbean Princess and four other Princess vessels, meaning that illegal discharges in US waters were likely.
Princess is a subsidiary of the cruise lines giant Carnival Corporation, the world’s largest cruise company.
As part of the plea agreement, Princess agreed to plead guilty to illegal dumping, and the eight Carnival cruise companies will be subject to a court-supervised environmental compliance program for five years, the Justice Department said.
Would the pipe have just been fitted/modified by this ships engineering crew then? That’s pretty damming evidence if pipe was put in for that purpose. Should individuals also be liable in this case?
I like the idea of having individuals taking legal responsibility of their actions but i would think that in a court they would be able to plead that they felt they would lose their jobs if they didn’t comply. Though the decision must have been issued by someone
Yes, the oily water separator must read 15ppm for or it will shut down, this is a legal requirement.
In an effort to be “greener” newer machinery reads at 5ppm and shut down when they detect a reading over that.
So, to stop the unit shutting down it has been known for people to pump in water to further dilute the mixture and beat the sensor.
“Magic pipes” sometimes bypass the system altogether and they just pump the bilge water over the side.
The pollution that is being pumped into Ringaskiddy
In Cork is a million times worst than this…why do you think all the chemical companies set up shop in
Ringsakiddy in the 80′s?
No chief engineer would stand by if bilges or untreated grey water were discharged at sea or in port. Normally the grey water tanks are treated before port discharge.
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