Carnival Corp in major legal trouble for illegal dumping and more...

[Tarwood3]

https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2019/04/articles/pollution/federal-judge-threatens-to-imprison-carnival-executives-for-continued-environmental-crimes/

 

 

Hopefully RCCL is never accused of such terrible environmental disasters....

[time4u2go]

37 minutes ago, Tarwood3 said:

https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2019/04/articles/pollution/federal-judge-threatens-to-imprison-carnival-executives-for-continued-environmental-crimes/

 

 

Hopefully RCCL is never accused of such terrible environmental disasters....

They already were.

[Merion_Mom]

10 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

They already were.

 

And have been banned from Glacier Bay for decades.

[AdGuyMG]

47 minutes ago, Tarwood3 said:

https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2019/04/articles/pollution/federal-judge-threatens-to-imprison-carnival-executives-for-continued-environmental-crimes/

 

 

Hopefully RCCL is never accused of such terrible environmental disasters....

 

Perish the thought...

 

Nordic Empress, Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd
Ship observed and filmed by Coast Guard aircraft as it discharged oil while en route to Miami, FL.  The company pled guilty to the willful presentation of a false oil record book for the ship during a US Coast Guard Investigation.  In addition, investigations revealed that the ship had been fitted with a bypass pipe allowing employees to discharge bilge waste from the ship without first processing it through an oily water separator

 

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
State of Alaska charged RCCL in August 1999 for seven counts of violating state laws governing oil and hazardous waste disposal.  In January 2000, RCCL pled guilty to dumping toxic chemicals (including dry-cleaning fluid) and oil-contaminated water into the state's waters.

 

Vision of the Seas & Serenade of the Seas, RCI
The Juenau Empire reports the two ships violated visible air emissions standards last year (2007), July 1 and August 9 respectively. Royal Caribbean may be liable for criminal or civil penalties. Past enforcement cases have cost cruise lines $27,500 per violation. The state's air quality standards  are designed to keep people from breathing harmful sulfur and nitrogen compounds and particulate matter.

 

Celebrity Cruises
The Seattle Times reports today that Celebrity Cruises faces a fine for the Mercury dumping 500,000 gallons of untreated wastewater into Puget Sound.  Though it initially claimed it hadn't dumped, shipboard documents contradicted the company's claim.  The dumping happended 10 times over nine days in September and October 2005.

 

Grandeur of the Seas, Majesty of the Seas, Monarch of the Seas, Nordic Empress, Nordic Prince, Song of America, Song of Norway, Sovereign of the Seas, Sun Viking, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
The company pled guilty in six jurisdictions to charges of fleet wide practices of discharging oil-contaminated waste, regularly and routinely discharging without a permit wastewater contaminated by pollutants through its ships' gray water systems, and making false material statements to the Coast Guard.  These practices occurred fleet wide into 1995 and occurred on one ship as late as 1998.  Among the violations supporting this guilty plea were repeated oil discharges from the Nordic Prince into the waters of Alaska's Inside Passage during 1994.

 

[matj2000]

1 hour ago, Tarwood3 said:

https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2019/04/articles/pollution/federal-judge-threatens-to-imprison-carnival-executives-for-continued-environmental-crimes/

 

 

Hopefully RCCL is never accused of such terrible environmental disasters....

Are you kidding?

 

RC is way revolutionized dumping in the ocean way before Carnival...

[Tarwood3]

I’m surprised things of this magnitude arent reported and investigated by the national news....this is all very disturbing...

[sfaaa]

1 hour ago, Tarwood3 said:

I’m surprised things of this magnitude arent reported and investigated by the national news....this is all very disturbing...

CC is The National News when it comes to cruising. No other news network comes close on this subject.

Edited April 12, 2019 by sfaaa

[evandbob]

At every muster drill, I hear about a "commitment to environmental leadership" and how cruise lines are leading the way in ecological science.  Their PR is BS!

 

Not only committing the pollution, but then covering it up with lies and obfuscation.  The company should be heavily fined, the execs who authorized the falsification of documents jailed, and the cruise line banned from pristine preserves like Glacier Bay.

 

Just my opinion, as someone who has sailed Carnival 40x and Princess twice.

[SantaFeFan]

3 hours ago, Tarwood3 said:

https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2019/04/articles/pollution/federal-judge-threatens-to-imprison-carnival-executives-for-continued-environmental-crimes/

 

 

Not at all surprised that this would be posted on www.cruiselawnews.com. It's a website published by ambulance chasing type of attorney Jim Walker who makes his living suing cruise lines for just about anything he can profit from as he bottom feeds the cruise industry. He loves this sort of thing as it brings him more cash for his mansions. 

 

Still, breaking environmental laws is not acceptable, regardless of who profits from prosecuting such issues. 

Edited April 12, 2019 by SantaFeFan

[whogo]

1 hour ago, Tarwood3 said:

I’m surprised things of this magnitude arent reported and investigated by the national news....this is all very disturbing...

The national news does not have reporters in all federal courtrooms. Washington Post, CBS, Fox and others have picked up the Miami Herald report.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/judge-threatens-to-stop-carnival-ships-from-docking-in-us/2019/04/11/e57fea3e-5c52-11e9-98d4-844088d135f2_story.html?utm_term=.07c25622e6ee

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/carnival-corp-may-be-banned-from-u-s-ports-for-allegedly-violating-probation

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-threatens-to-stop-carnival-ships-from-docking-in-u-s/

[klfrodo]

I wonder why the Royal moderators moved this thread from the Royal page over to the Ask A Cruise Question page?

[K32682]

9 hours ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

Not at all surprised that this would be posted on www.cruiselawnews.com. It's a website published by ambulance chasing type of attorney Jim Walker who makes his living suing cruise lines for just about anything he can profit from as he bottom feeds the cruise industry. He loves this sort of thing as it brings him more cash for his mansions. 

 

Still, breaking environmental laws is not acceptable, regardless of who profits from prosecuting such issues. 

 

I am less offended by who is propagating the story than its contents.  

 

This is a story that deserves wider circulation and is getting it largely due to cruiselawnews. Carnival's behavior is criminal and incarcerating the top executives involved would be a signal that cruise companies had better live up to the environmental laws.  

 

The news articles should be posted on every Carnival subforum so consumers can decide who they want to cruise with. 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2019 by K32682

[PelicanBill]

10 hours ago, klfrodo said:

I wonder why the Royal moderators moved this thread from the Royal page over to the Ask A Cruise Question page?

Not a specific RCCL news item.  I am surprised it was moved to "Ask A Cruise Question" rather than the News board.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

what is ballast water and gray water?

 

 

[Mike981]

Since our laws and regulations come from the top down, I could see some on this actual ship get in trouble, but certainly nothing for the higher ups. If a CEO got seriously reprimanded and the stock took a tumble, I imagine this would stop.

[Markanddonna]

This is interesting since Carnival thru Holland and Princess Cruise Lines possesses the most permits to go into Glacier Bay based on some silly and archaic law that rewards their "seniority status" in Alaska. This should help level the playing field in Alaska unless the reason the Glacier Bay policy has been in force is based on corruption and payoffs. Wouldn't that be a shock? I've heard people recommend these two cruises in Alaska because "they know how to do Alaska best." Such flawed thinking.

[katrina915]

Royal is getting permits for Glacier Bay in 2020.  It will be interesting if the National Park Services take permits away from Carnival, Princess and HAL for this.

[Bookish Angel]

BBC and public broadcasting, committed to more coprehensive, globally-focused reporting, has reported cruise ship incidents.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=cruise+ship+polluting&sa_f=search-product&scope=

 

NPR has covered cruise ship environmental polluting.  

https://www.npr.org/search?query=cruise ship dumping&page=1

 

Spring pledge for most NPR stations is this month. 🙂

You get what you pay for with free news.

Edited April 12, 2019 by Bookish Angel

[Hlitner]

7 hours ago, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

what is ballast water and gray water?

 

 

Surprised that a few did not post an answer.  Ballast water is used in ballast tanks which are deep in the hull (below the waterline) and used to provide stability via adding weight.  Large ships have multiple ballast tanks and can actually shift ballast water between tanks to "trim the ship" or get it on a more even keel.  Ballast water is generally sea water but it gets dirty from sloshing around in the tanks.  There are various environmental regulations about where and when ships can pump out ballast water but I believe it is usually at least 200 miles out to sea..  There are normally prohibitions when close to shore and certainly in Glacier Bay. 

 

Gray water is polluted water, but not badly polluted (a simple generalization).  For example, the stuff that drains out of your dishwasher or sink would be gray water.  Gray water is not potable (you cannot drink the stuff).   Black water would be what comes out of your toilet.  

 

Hank

 

 

[Tarwood3]

19 hours ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

Not at all surprised that this would be posted on www.cruiselawnews.com. It's a website published by ambulance chasing type of attorney Jim Walker who makes his living suing cruise lines for just about anything he can profit from as he bottom feeds the cruise industry. He loves this sort of thing as it brings him more cash for his mansions. 

 

Still, breaking environmental laws is not acceptable, regardless of who profits from prosecuting such issues. 

The article was originally published in the Miami Herald...regardless of the source, it really is just terrible...

[Tarwood3]

9 hours ago, PelicanBill said:

Not a specific RCCL news item.  I am surprised it was moved to "Ask A Cruise Question" rather than the News board.

Agreed, dumb place to move it to...I’m sure the moderator just wanted to bury the story...

[Cru1s1ng2009]

thanks Hank!

[klfrodo]

14 minutes ago, Tarwood3 said:

Agreed, dumb place to move it to...I’m sure the moderator just wanted to bury the story...

 

That was my thought. Especially when some people started pointing out that Royal had the same issues a couple of years back. Oops, bad look for Royal,,,,, let’s bury this somewhere else.

[NantahalaCruiser]

On 4/12/2019 at 2:24 PM, katrina915 said:

Royal is getting permits for Glacier Bay in 2020.  It will be interesting if the National Park Services take permits away from Carnival, Princess and HAL for this.

No Royal 2020 cruises to Glacier Bay scheduled yet. Perhaps to be granted in 2020 for use in 2021?

[Aquahound]

23 minutes ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

No Royal 2020 cruises to Glacier Bay scheduled yet. Perhaps to be granted in 2020 for use in 2021?

 

On 4/12/2019 at 1:24 PM, katrina915 said:

Royal is getting permits for Glacier Bay in 2020.  It will be interesting if the National Park Services take permits away from Carnival, Princess and HAL for this.

 

On 4/11/2019 at 6:17 PM, Merion_Mom said:

 

And have been banned from Glacier Bay for decades.

 

From what I read, the contracts go in to effect in October, 2019.  RCCL (parent company) received the permits so I wonder if they're looking at Celebrity first.  Here's a story on it.

 

https://www.nps.gov/glba/learn/news/glacier-bay-issues-new-contracts-for-cruise-ship-services.htm

Edited April 14, 2019 by Aquahound