| Year |
Ship, Cruise Line Explanation of Occurence |
Fine |
Nature |
| October 2009 | Serenade of the
Seas, Royal
Caribbean International The ship was cited for violating Alaska Wastewater Quality Standards in August. On August 6, the ship's effluent exceeded the allowable level of zinc. |
Pending | Wastewater violation |
| February 2009 | Rhapsody of the Seas & Serenade of the Seas, RCI The Juneau Empire reports the ships were each cited for one air quality violation in Alaska during the 2008 cruise season. |
Pending | Air emissions |
| February 2009 | Mercury & Millennium, Celebrity Cruises
The Juneau Empire reports the ships have been cited for air quality violations in Alaska during the 2008 cruise season. Mercury had 1 violation; Millennium had 2. |
Pending | Air emissions |
| September 2008 |
Vision of
the
Seas & Serenade of the
Seas, RCI The Juenau Empire reports the two ships violated visible air emissions standards last year (2007), July 1 and August 9 respectively. Royal Caribbean may be liable for criminal or civil penalties. Past enforcement cases have cost cruise lines $27,500 per violation. The state's air quality standards are designed to keep people from breathing harmful sulfur and nitrogen compounds and particulate matter. |
Pending |
Air emissions |
| July 2008 |
Rhapsody of the Seas,
RCI The Assocated Press reports Royal Caribbean Cruises says it mistakenly broke state law in discharging about 20,000 gallons of wastewater into Chatham Strait in Southeast Alaska. Crew members mistakenly discharged gray water, wastewater from cabin showers and sinks, on June 10. The error was not discovered until a week later. The ship's captain and environmental officer were apparently suspended while a full investigation is conducted. |
N/A |
Illegal discharge of wastewater |
| November 2006 |
Mercury, Celebrity
Cruises The Seattle Times reports today that Celebrity Cruises faces a fine for the Mercury dumping 500,000 gallons of untreated wastewater into Puget Sound. Though it initially claimed it hadn't dumped, shipboard documents contradicted the company's claim. The dumping happended 10 times over nine days in September and October 2005. |
$100,000 |
Untreated Wastewater |
| August 2006 |
Summit, Celebrity Cruises The ship pulled into Seward with a dead humpback whale on its bow. The whale was spotted by longshoremen after the vessel tied up. A necropsy is scheduled to determine whether the whale was alive or dead when it was struck. |
N/A |
Whale strike |
| January 2006 | Monarch of the Seas, Royal Caribbean International A US Coast Guard blog reports the ship, while underway to drydock in San Fransico emptied tanks to sea, against Marpol and Royal Caribbeans SQM environmental policy. Tank concern was DD11,used as fixed ballast, contained tons of sediment,chemicals,and bacterias ..the tank had been the source of an accident in San Pedro Sept. 2nd. 2005. Methane gas accident, 3 casualties. Probobly cause of the crime, was to save money and time in Drydock where cleaningwork was scheduled. According to ships stability manual, DD11 was not to be emptied at sea, due to negative stability would occour. Ship had approx. 1000 people onboard, crew and contractors. The ballast repport sendt to USCG does not reflect correct status, as the tank was emptied just before DD.and was free of liquids when entering drydock. Ship was given gas free cerificate by the yard, although over 100ppm methane and H2S was measured when in drydock..cleaning work was cancelled due to that fact. The most serious action was putting the cruiseship in negative stability jepardizing all lives onboard, in addition to the environmental crime by discharging the tank inside legal borders. This was reported to CEO Richard Fain early may 2006, by mail from Norway, but no action was taken, and it was not reported to USCG. |
None | |
| January 2006 |
Explorer of the
Seas, RCI From a passenger (in letter to Cayman Islands officials): I visited Grand Cayman on the Explorer of the Seas and was transported to shore via a locally operated tender. I write because of the huge environmental disregard shown by the tender I was on (“Carib Hawk”). I stood at the back of the boat during the trip and noticed an excessive amount of what looked to be oil being dumped into the ocean from the boat’s motor. This is unacceptable and must not be allowed. I talked to the captain of another boat about the matter and he told me that the Ministry of Environment had been in the area investigating a similar matter the day before, and also confirmed that the oil-dumping was not normal when I showed him the pictures I took through my digital camera. The pictures may be viewed here. |
None | Oil discharge |
| September 2005 |
Jewel of the Seas,
RCI A 20-metre was found impaled on the bow of the Jewel of the Seas when it arrived in Saint John, NB. The ship's crew spotted the finback whale about the same time as officers in a small utility boat who had been dispatched to help tie up the ship, said Bruce Fiander of the coast guard's traffic operations centre. |
N/A |
Collision with whale |
| December 2003 |
Legend of the Seas,
Radiance of the Seas, RCI The Honolulu Advertiser reported there had been at least 12 violations of Hawai'i's MOU with the cruise industry in the first year. |
N/A |
Violation of MOU |
| December 2001 |
Zenith,
Celebrity Cruises A compliance audit under the plea agreement between Royal Caribbean and the US Department of Justice found that one 55-gallojn drum of hazardous waste generated by the print shop was landed at Tampa as non-hazardous waste. |
None |
Improper disposal of
hazardous waste |
| June 2001 |
Rhapsody of the Seas,
Royal Caribbean International Discharged 200 gallons of graywater into Juneau harbour. |
Unknown (up to $25,000 is allowed) |
Graywater discharge |
| June 2001 | Mercury,
Celebrity Cruises Discharged treated wastewater at Juneau without required permits. Tests of the wastewater indicated that it was more acidic than permitted for discharging within a mile of shore. |
Unknown (up to $25,000 is allowed) |
Wastewater discharge |
| Summer 2000 |
Celebrity Cruises cited for violating Alaska's state
smoke-opacity standards when they were docked in Juneau between
mid-July and mid-August |
$55,000 - suspended |
Air pollution |
| January 2000 Plea Agreement |
Royal Caribbean Cruises
Ltd. State of Alaska charged RCCL in August 1999 for seven counts of violating state laws governing oil and hazardous waste disposal. In January 2000, RCCL pled guilty to dumping toxic chemicals (including dry-cleaning fluid) and oil-contaminated water into the state's waters. |
$3.5 million |
Discharge of toxic
chemicals, oil discharge |
| Summer 1999 |
Celebrity Cruises charged by the Environmental
Protection Agency for air pollution violations in the waters of Juneau,
Seward
and Glacier Bay |
$55,000 |
Air pollution |
| July 1999 Plea Agreement |
Grandeur of the
Seas, Majesty of the Seas, Monarch of
the Seas, Nordic Empress, Nordic Prince, Song of America, Song of
Norway, Sovereign of the Seas, Sun Viking,
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. The company pled guilty in six jurisdictions to charges of fleet wide practices of discharging oil-contaminated waste, regularly and routinely discharging without a permit wastewater contaminated by pollutants through its ships' gray water systems, and making false material statements to the Coast Guard. These practices occurred fleet wide into 1995 and occurred on one ship as late as 1998. Among the violations supporting this guilty plea were repeated oil discharges from the Nordic Prince into the waters of Alaska's Inside Passage during 1994. Jurisdictions: Miami ($3 million), New York City ($3 million), Los Angeles ($3 million), Anchorage ($6.5 million), Puerto Rico ($1 million), US Virgin Islands ($1.5 million) |
$18 million ($3.5 million designated for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and $2.5 million to the National Park Foundation) |
Oil discharge,
discharge of hazardous waste,
falsifying records |
| June 1998 Plea Agreement |
Sovereign of the
Seas, Monarch of the Seas, Song of
America, Nordic Prince, Nordic Empress,
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd After Sovereign of the Seas was found discharging oily bilge waste approximately 8-12 miles from San Juan Harbour, PR on October 25, 1994, an investigation found that the ship's engineers routinely discharged oily waste overboard instead of processing it through the ship's oily water separator. In addition, employees on all five ships falsified oil record books and made false statements to the Coast Guard to conceal illegal discharge practices. |
$8 million ($1 million designated to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation |
Oil discharge,
falsifying records |
| June 1998 Plea Agreement |
Nordic Empress,
Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd Ship observed and filmed by Coast Guard aircraft as it discharged oil while en route to Miami, FL. The company pled guilty to the willful presentation of a false oil record book for the ship during a US Coast Guard Investigation. In addition, investigations revealed that the ship had been fitted with a bypass pipe allowing employees to discharge bilge waste from the ship without first processing it through an oily water separator |
$1 million |
Oil discharge,
falsifying records |
| December 1997 |
Nordic Empress,
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line 1 gallon of waste oil spilled into San Juan Harbour, PR |
$625 |
Oil spill |
| September 1996 |
Viking Serenade,
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line 5 gallons of hydraulic fluid spilled into San Pedro Bay, CA |
$250 |
Hydraulic fluid spill |
| September 1996 |
Song of Norway,
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line One half pint of oil based paint spilled into Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach |
$250 |
Paint spill |
| March 1996 |
Meridian,
Celebrity Cruises Food waste mixed with garbage discharged into Crown Bay, St. Thomas, USVI |
Warning |
Food and garbage |
| July 1995 |
Legend of the Seas,
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line 10 gallons of oily bilge water discharged into Gastineau Channel, AK |
$1000 |
Oil discharge |
| June 1995 |
Majesty of the Seas,
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line 1 gallon of bilge oil discharged into Intracoastal Waterway, FL when a valve was left open |
$250 |
Oil discharge |
| November 1994 |
Britanis,
Celebrity Cruises Plastics and garbage discharged into water (reported by passengers) |
Referred to flag state |
Plastic & garbage |
| October 1994 |
Sovereign of the
Seas,
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Discharged oily bilge water 8-12 miles from San Juan Harbour, PR |
$4000 |
Oil discharge |
| September 1994 |
Nordic Prince,
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Unknown quantity of oil discharged into Gastineau Channel, AK |
$5600 |
Oil discharge |
| April
1993 |
Majesty
of the Seas,
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Discharged waste into harbour at Georgetown, Grand Cayman Island containing an unacceptably high level of bacteria harmful to marine life. |
$2500 |
Bacteria |
| February 1993 |
Nordic
Empress,
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line 7-nautical mile oil slick left by ship between Bimini, Bahamas and South Florida coast (videotaped by Coast Guard) |
Referred
to flag state |
Oil
discharge |
| early-1992 |
Nordic
Prince,
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Leaves a 450 meter (1500 foot) oil spill in St. George's Harbour, Bermuda |
$8500 |
Oil
discharge |