Carnival pledges steps ongoing to curb ocean pollution

MIAMI — Carnival Corp. executives pledged anew Friday that steps are being taken to curb ocean pollution, which was the subject of a recent $20 million federal penalty imposed because of continued environmental violations.

Carnival outlined some of those steps at a hearing before a pair of skeptical Miami federal judges. CEO Arnold Donald says the world’s largest cruise line is embracing a new culture of compliance with environmental laws from the top down.

“Our people have embraced this. They want to do the right thing,” Arnold said. “We absolutely recognize the importance of this.”

Last month, Carnival admitted violating probation from a 2016 criminal pollution case — it paid a separate $40 million fine at the time — as its ships continued to cause environmental harm since then. Similar promises were made years ago by Carnival that things would change but it appears little did, Senior U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz said.

Seitz urged the company, which remains on probation for three more years, not to revert to its past practices.

“I’m concerned that what I’m seeing is a lot of paperwork and not a lot of philosophy and leadership,” Seitz said. “Where is your commitment to our world?”

Carnival operates more than 100 ships across nine brands around the globe. Authorities say its ships have committed crimes such as dumping “gray water” in prohibited places such Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and knowingly allowing plastic to be discharged along with food waste in the Bahamas, which poses a severe threat to marine life.