Carnival Corp. will pay $20M over pollution from cruise ships

MIAMI (AP) — Carnival Corp. has reached a tentative
settlement with federal prosecutors in which the world’s largest cruise company
agreed to pay $20 million in fines for some of its ships continuing to pollute
the oceans despite promising years ago to stop.

Carnival Corp. acknowledged in court
documents Monday it violated terms of probation from a 2016 criminal conviction
for discharging oily waste from its Princess Cruises ships and covering it
up. Carnival paid a $40 million fine and was put on five years’ probation.

In the new documents, Princess “admits that it
committed the violations” outlined earlier this year by prosecutors. These
include dumping “gray water” in prohibited places such as the Bahamas
and knowingly allowing plastic to be discharged along with food waste, which
poses a severe threat to marine life.

The proposed settlement was signed by Carnival chairman
Micky Arison, a billionaire who also owns the Miami Heat.

Senior U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz scheduled a hearing
later Monday on whether to accept the agreement. Seitz previously threatened to
bar Carnival from docking at U.S. ports because of the violations.

Miami-based Carnival Corp. operates nine cruise brands and 105
ships worldwide.

Under the proposed settlement, Carnival Corp. promised there would
be additional audits to check for violations, a restructuring of the company’s
compliance and training programs, a better system for reporting environmental
violations to state and federal agencies, and better waste-management practices.

The agreement also would set Sept. 13 and Oct. 9 deadlines
to create an improved compliance plan and make other changes, subject to fines
of $1 million per day if those deadlines are not met.

Other proposed changes include a reduction by Carnival in
the use of single-use plastic items across its entire fleet and creation of “tiger
teams” meant to make improvements in the ships’ food and beverage systems
and how waste is handled at sea.