Carnival sentenced to pay $ 20 million to dump plastic and garbage into the ocean

Carnival Corp. and its subsidiary Princess Cruise Lines were ordered to pay $ 20 million for environmental violations, just two years after paying $ 40 million for the dumping of oil – contaminated waste into the environment. ocean, the heaviest penalty of this type at the time.

"Carnival has sought to avoid finding problems in audits rather than learning from them. Carnival's deliberate deception undermined the court's supervision of probation. "

The US Department of Justice has ordered Carnival to pay a $ 20 million fine for the dumping of plastic and other garbage into the sea, and said it would be subject to enhanced surveillance after recognizing breaches of probation attributable to Carnival's senior management in 2016.

"Princess was convicted and sentenced in April 2017, after pleading guilty to misdemeanors following deliberate discharge of oil-contaminated waste from one of her ships and intentional concealment" said the department in a statement.

"All Carnival Cruise Line vessels entitled to trade in US ports have been ordered to comply with an approved and court-supervised environmental compliance plan, including audits by an independent company and the oversight of the company. 39, a court-appointed monitor, "he said. I said.

Carnival admitted that he was guilty of six breaches of probation. Two of these violations involved the company's involvement in probation supervision by the court by sending undisclosed teams on board ships to prepare for independent inspections required during probation.

"When this was first discovered in December 2017, US District Court Judge Patricia Seitz ordered that the practice cease and ordered additional inspections accordingly," said the Justice Department in a statement. published last monday. "However, without seeking court approval, a second undisclosed program was launched shortly thereafter."

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The revised sentence imposed by Justice Seitz also requires that Princess Cruise Lines remain on probation for three years.

"Carnival has sought to avoid finding problems in audits rather than learning from them. The deliberate deception of Carnival undermined probation supervision by the court, "said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice.

"A company is responsible for the profitability of its shareholders and its board of directors, but not in breaking the law and destroying the very environment in which it sails for profit," said US Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan. Southern District of Florida.

"A company is responsible for the profitability of its shareholders and its board of directors, but not in breaking the law and destroying the very environment in which it sails for profit."

"Carnival's non-compliance with probation conditions and, later, its attempt to drown its deception runs counter to the fiber of corporate compliance," she added. "We must congratulate the probation office and the court-appointed monitor for his attention to this case."

Carnival Corp.

CCL -2.66%

was not immediately available for comment. however, NPR reported Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival, told the judge, "I sincerely regret these mistakes. I take responsibility for the problems we had. Personally, I am extremely disappointed to have them. I personally commit myself to achieving the best results in terms of compliance. "

Carnival must also provide all employees with a statement in which the Carnival CEO accepts management's responsibility for probation offenses, appoints a new corporate compliance officer, and establishes a compliance committee to all cruise lines and pays up to $ 10 million a day if he does not do it. meet deadlines for submission and implementation of the necessary changes to the company structure.

Carnival has reported revenues of $ 18.8 billion in 2018, according to its latest annual report.

The cruise company must also "make major changes to the way the company uses and eliminates plastic and other non-food wastes to urgently address the problem posed by multiple ships of illegal mixed plastic waste." other waste ", said the Ministry of Justice.

Carnival shares are up 6% since the beginning of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average

DJIA, + 0.82%

is up nearly 9% over the same period, while the S & P 500

SPX, + 0.82%

is up 12%.