Princess Cruises has pleaded guilty to seven felony charges of polluting the seas and intentionally attempting to cover it up.
Five different ships committed the illegal acts by discharging thousands of gallons of oily wastewater from their vessels between 2005 and 2013, when the acts were discovered, according to USA Today. When the illegal dumping was reported to authorities by a whistleblower in 2013, employees on the ships were reportedly ordered to lie to authorities about the activities during the subsequent investigation.
Princess agreed to a plea agreement that includes $40 million in penalties, the largest-ever fine for deliberate water pollution, according to the Justice Department.
“Let’s be very clear: Princess engaged in exceptionally serious criminal offenses,” said assistant attorney general John Cruden at a news conference in Miami on Thursday, USA Today reported. “It deliberately violated the international law regime designed to make sure that our precious oceans are protected.”
“This is a company that knew better and should have done better,” Cruden continued. “Princess itself is to blame because the nature, extent and scope of the crimes involve a striking failure of corporate culture and a serious failure in ship management.”
The cruise ships dumped illegal wastewater at nine ports throughout the United States from Maine in the north to Florida in the south, as well as other places outside the U.S., Fortune reported.
Princess apologized for its actions in a statement, saying it was disappointed in its employees’ actions and was cooperating with the Justice Department and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Following the guilty plea, Princess Cruises will be under a special monitoring program for five years to ensure policies are followed.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.