Cruise Line Pleads Guilty

Carnival, the world's No. 1 cruise group, said Friday it pleaded guilty to ocean pollution charges brought by the U.S. government and will pay $18 million in fines and penalties.

The Miami operator of 43 cruise ships in such lines as Cunard and Holland America pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Miami to six counts of falsifying records on oil-contaminated discharges, according to a company spokesman.

The company will pay $9 million in fines and spend $9 million on environmental projects, hire pollution watchdogs for five years on its ships and land facilities, and put in place an executive-level environmental-standards officer, the spokesman said.

Carnival has put aside money to pay the fines and does not expect any effect on current earnings, the spokesman said.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., the No. 2 cruise group, paid some $27 million in fines and penalties in the late 1990s to settle ocean pollution charges brought by the federal government.