Princess Cruise Line Pleads Guilty to Second Probation Violation
Washington – This week Princess Cruise Lines Ltd. pleaded guilty to a charge that the company violated its probation a second time. Princess, part of the Carnival Corporation, is under criminal probation from the Department of Justice (DOJ) for environmental crimes. This new plea agreement requires Princess to pay an additional $1 million criminal fine and maintain an independent investigative office, to improve the operations of Princess and its parent company.
In 2017 Princess was convicted of felony charges for illegally dumping oil-contaminated wastewater from a cruise vessel, and for attempting to cover it up. Carnival Corporation was fined $40 million, the largest criminal fine for intentional pollution from cruise ships, and placed on a five-year probation. In 2019, Carnival was convicted of six probation violations, including interfering with court supervision of their operations and fined another $20 million.
Marcie Keever, Oceans and Vessels Program Director at Friends of the Earth, issued this statement:
These latest environmental violations from Princess and Carnival Corporation are no surprise. Carnival has a long history of underhanded operations that disregard our environment and threaten public health. We are happy to see the Department of Justice double down on the unscrupulous actions of Carnival and force the company to prioritize the well-being of cruise passengers, marine ecosystems and port communities. It is time for the federal government to step up and enact stronger pollution standards as well as independent monitors for the entire cruise industry, so these criminal environmental violations don’t happen again.
Princess — along with all Carnival Corp. brands – was given an overall rating of “F” on Friends of the Earth’s 2021 Cruise Ship Report Card for its criminal violations, lack of transparency and disregard for human and environmental health. The cruise line continues to use toxic scrubber technology on a majority of its ships. Scrubbers convert cruise ships’ toxic air pollution into water pollution and dump it into our oceans without enough treatment, posing significant harms to marine wildlife and ecosystems.
Communications contact: Kerry Skiff, [email protected], 202-222-0723