Marine pollution : progress made to reduce marine pollution by cruise ships, but important issues remain

792175PDFResearch PaperGAO/RCED-00-48Cruise shipsCargo shipsTankersPollutionEnvironmental impactsWaste disposalMarine salvageUnited StatesUnited States. General Accounting OfficeNTL-MARINE/WATERWAYS TRANSPORTATION-Marine Energy and EnvironmentNTL-MARINE/WATERWAYS TRANSPORTATION-Ships and VesselsUS Transportation CollectionFrom 1993 through 1998-the most recent year for which data are available-cargo ships, tankers, cruise ships, and other commercial vessels registered, or "flagged," in foreign countries have been involved in almost 2,400 confirmed cases of illegally discharging oil, garbage, and other harmful substances into U.S. coastal waters. Cruise ships, nearly all of which are flagged in foreign countries, accounted for about 4 percent of all confirmed illegal discharge cases by commercial foreign-flagged ships during this period. Although the more than 100 cruise ships operating in U.S. waters have been involved in a relatively small number of these pollution cases, several cruise ship cases have been widely publicized. For example, on a number of cruise ships operated by one cruise ship company, pollution control devices were deliberately bypassed and records were falsified, leading to criminal prosecution and an $18 million fine in 1999. Several other cruise ship companies have also received substantial criminal penalties, in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, for similar incidents. Given that cruise ship activity in North American ports increased by almost 50 percent from 1993 through 1998 and ships with thousands of passengers can generate large amounts of waste, the actions being taken by federal regulators and the cruise ship industry to prevent future illegal discharges are a matter of interest to the Congress