Magic pipe: Carnival's Princess pays $40M fine for sea waste
MIAMI (AP) — Princess Cruise Lines will pay a $40 million penalty after pleading guilty to seven federal charges in an illegal ocean pollution case that involved one ship's use of a so-called magic pipe to divert oily waste into the waters, authorities said Thursday.
A plea agreement filed in federal court also requires Carnival Corp., parent company of the Princess line, to submit 78 cruise ships across its eight brands to a five-year environmental compliance program overseen by a judge.
Ferrer said the illegal practices came to light when an engineer aboard the Caribbean Princess discovered the "magic pipe" in 2013 off the coast of Great Britain and told investigators about it.
A single illegal discharge dumped 4,227 gallons of oil-contaminated waste about 20 miles off the coast of England on Aug. 26, 2013, according to court documents.
The documents also show illegal practices were found on four other Princess ships, including use of clean ocean water to fool onboard sensors that would otherwise detect dumping of improperly contaminated bilge water.