Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD, the parent company of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises, and a part owner of TUI Cruises, was found to be in violation of rules requiring the specific documentation of waste disposal practices at the Port of Galveston, in Texas.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on October 10, 2024 that the cruise company must pay $473,685 in civil penalties after failing to notify the agency about certain waste management actions at the port.
In November 2022, Royal Caribbean opened a new cruise terminal, Terminal 3, at the Port of Galveston’s Pier 10 after investing $125 million in the facility. A month later, an EPA inspection of Pier 10 revealed that the cruise company was offloading waste from eight of its ships.
The EPA’s announcement does not indicate which ships were offloading waste, but the finding prompted the agency to look further into Royal Caribbean’s actions by scrutinizing additional reports and documents. In total, the EPA found that the cruise company had offloaded solid and hazardous wastes from July 2019 to July 2024, into the US.
Cruise ships create various kinds of waste while at sea with thousands of guests onboard, and how they dispose of it is subject to a bevy of environmental rules. In this case, the penalty was levied because Royal Caribbean did not properly file the required paperwork.
Specifically, the EPA found failures to file accurate reports, keep adequate records, and comply with land disposal rules and requirements of a large generator. Also, the cruise company failed to revise its Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 3010 notifications.
In a statement to Houston Public Media, Royal Caribbean said the violations were documentation errors. The EPA, however, considers compliance with regulations crucial to environmental protection.
“Waste management is an important aspect of environmental protection. Improper waste management practices can lead to environmental and community challenges for decades,” said Dr. Earthea Nance, regional administrator at the EPA.
“This settlement reinforces our commitment to ensure companies are adhering to crucial RCRA regulations that are designed to protect our natural resources and public health from the dangers of hazardous waste,” added Nance.
Along with paying a civil penalty, Royal Caribbean must take several steps, including maintaining required documentation of offloaded waste from ships to its final disposal location, and must “manifest accurately the amount of hazardous waste it offloads into US ports.”
The cruise company also has to make certain that the segregation of waste conforms with RCRA rules, and must update and submit its Standard Operating Procedures for review. The EPA’s decision directs Royal Caribbean to implement these actions during the next 180 days and continue to comply with the regulations after that period.
Other Cruise Brands Have Faced Violations
While the EPA’s $473,685 civil penalty issued to Royal Caribbean is pocket-change to a cruise company of its size, there have been other instances in recent years where major cruise brands have been fined millions for environmental infractions.
Read Also: Galveston Cruise Port: Essential Guide for Your Cruise
One notable case involved Princess Cruises, a Carnival Corporation brand, which in 2022 pleaded guilty to its second probation violation tied to the line’s so-called “magic pipe” controversy that occurred in 2013.
The cruise line used a pipe to directly discharge oily waste from a vessel into the ocean in 2013 and then falsified documents to hide the action. The US government fined the line $40 million for the infraction in 2017.
Princess Cruises was later fined another $20 million for non-compliance with court orders related to the case. The 2022 violation prompted yet another fine, of $1 million, as part of a violation plea deal.
Other lines have had similar charges brought against them. In 2002, Norwegian Cruise Line pleaded guilty to dumping oily discharges directly into the sea and was fined $1.5 million, according to data at Friends of the Earth, an environmental advocacy group.
