Oil Leak 9

Given that STS is supposed to be funding the expansion of the CFPA Cruise Ship business, we thought we’d do a piece on that very subject. The Caribbean Princess has been a regular visitor the Cromarty Firth over the years and no-one has really had a problem with the cruise ship side of the business. However, this was recently brought to our attention:

http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/princess-socked-with-record-40m-criminal-penalty-for-pollution.html

If you don’t want to read it then it tells the story of the owners of the said vessel being fined $40 million for illegally dumping cruise ship waste at sea – yes, that’s correct $40million.

A ‘magic pipe’ was used to circumvent the oily water separator and oil content monitor pollution prevention equipment – in August 2013 a discharge was made involving approximately 4,227 gallons, 23 miles off the coast of England. This practice had occurred since 2005. The investigation uncovered two other illegal practices on the Caribbean Princess but also on the Star Princess, Grand Princess, Coral Princess and Golden Princess. The Grand Princess and Golden Princess are also regular visitors to the Cromarty Firth. A $40 million fine is no small sum and reflects the gravity of the offence – given how important the environment is to the CFPA, it could send out a very strong message to Princess Cruises and cancel all future bookings until the company mends its ways. Is this the type of company a Scottish Trust Port wishes to do business with?