Carnival Unit Pays Fine for Dumping

Carnival Corp.’s Holland America Line pleaded guilty to illegally dumping oily bilge water from the cruise ship Rotterdam in Alaskan waters and agreed to pay $2 million in fines and restitution. Seattle-based Holland America, which has since sold the 748-foot-long Rotterdam, agreed to end the criminal case by paying a $1-million fine and $1 million to the National Park Foundation for scientific study and protection of marine ecosystems in Alaska, the Justice Department said. The fine for the 1994 dumping episode is the second-largest for environmental crimes involving cruise ships, the department said. The largest fine was against Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., which agreed June 2 to pay $9 million for conspiracy and obstruction of justice involving an oil dumping incident. “We believe that companies should be responsible for their actions. That’s why we’ve accepted this settlement,” said Kirk Lanterman, chairman and chief executive of Holland America. “Today, every one of our ships is equipped with recorder and monitoring devices that enable us to know instantly if water discharge or smoke emission criteria are exceeded.”