Carnival cruise line is still using the ocean like a toilet

Less than a year after Carnival Corporation was convicted of dumping poop water into the ocean and lying about it to regulators, court documents show that the cruise line continued to dump over a half-million gallons of poop water into the ocean.

According to a 205-page report obtained by the Miami Herald, the previously confidential findings were published last week by U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz, who released the documents "so the public can see what this criminal defendant is doing," she said.

The report shows that the person charged with overseeing Carnival's environmental compliance flagged 800 incidents across the company's 80 vessels from April 2017 to April 2018, 24 of which were considered illegal and involved the cruise line dumping everything from sewage, grey water, oily water, food waste, and even getting humpback whales stuck to the bow of a ship.

From the Herald:

"The Bahamas was the country most affected by Carnival Corp.’s violations, mostly related to sewage and food waste. In one July 2017 instance, the Carnival Pride ship dumped 15 pounds of food waste into Half Moon Cay, the company’s private island used as a beach for cruise passengers. Fourteen violations occurred in Florida ports or off of the Sunshine State’s shores.

In one instance in October 2017, the Carnival Paradise ship burned heavy fuel oil unfiltered for 40 minutes while in port in Tampa. In March 2018 while at port in Jacksonville, a pallet broke and a plastic container with 30 pounds of egg yolks fell overboard. The report also highlights more pervasive issues, such as broken equipment, leaked refrigerant gas, missing records and accidentally striking marine life. In August 2017, the Grand Princess cruise ship arrived at the port in Ketchikan, Alaska, with a dead humpback whale on its bow.

The incident report noted that Carnival Corp. ships have a history of striking whales in Alaskan waters. Alaska is the U.S. state with the most stringent environmental laws to protect its fragile ecosystem."

While the report said that none of the violations were intentional, many of the environmental violations continued into the first year of their probation, causing the report to refer to Carnival Corp.’s internal investigations as "critically flawed."

"Our environmental responsibility has been and remains a top priority for the company," said Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald in a statement. "Our aspiration is to leave the places we touch even better than when we first arrived. This is in the best interest of our guests, our company and the oceans upon which we travel. We look forward to clarifying any issues and demonstrating our commitment."

Last year, Carnival Corp. reported a profit of $3.2 billion.

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