Cruise line heavily fined for environmental violation
GREAT BAY – Cruise Company Princess has to pay the American government $40 million for environmental violations. In 2013, investigators discovered a ‘magical pipe’ at one of the company’s cruise vessels; the pipe was illegally pumping oil into the ocean.
‘Magical pipe’ used to dump oily water into the ocean
It appeared that Princess already used this ‘solution’ since 2005 to get rid of water polluted with oil for free instead of paying for waste disposal and processing. In one discharge, the vessel pumped 16,000 liters of oil-polluted water into the ocean, 35 kilometers out of the coast of Great Britain. A technical employee saw it and reported it to the authorities. A subsequent investigation showed that four other Princess vessels also used this magical pipe construction. Sensors on board were manipulated to make sure they did not measure pollution in the ocean waters.
According to American authorities the captain and other crew members knew about these practices; the illegal dumping was done to save costs. Princess Cruise Lines pleaded guilty last week Thursday in a court in Miami to seven violations. According to the public prosecutor the $40 million fine is the largest of its kind.
Princess’ parent company Carnival – the largest cruise company in the world – has to subject 78 of its vessels to environmental inspections. Princess says in a statement to be ‘extremely disappointed in its own personnel.” Reportedly, the environmental violations do not take place anymore.
Photo caption: The Caribbean Princess, one of the eighteen cruise vessels in the fleet of Princess Cruises. Photo www.princess.com
Cruise ships carry thousands of liters of water that stems from the engines and fuel systems. They are supposed to dispose of this polluted water in port, or have it burned.
“Our open oceans are not garbage dumps,” the public prosecutor in Miami said. “We cannot take clear blue oceans for granted.”
Part of the fine goes to environmental projects in several locations around the world.
