Carnival Corp brand Princess Cruises has been hit with the biggest ever fine for deliberate polluting of the ocean.
The line agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of dumping waste at sea and a concerted effort to cover it up.
The line will pay $40 million relating to seven felony charges, the US Justice Department said.
It relates to the dumping of contaminated waste from the Caribbean Princess cruise ship through a so-called ‘magic pipe’ into waters off the UK and then ‘intentional acts to cover it up.’
It had illegally discharged waste since 2005 before it was reported by an engineer in August 2013.
The pipe was removed and crew members were ordered to lie about its existence, it was alleged.
"This is a company that knew better and should have done better. Hopefully the outcome of this case has the potential not just to chart a new course for this company but for other companies as well," said assistant Attorney General John Cruden.
A Princess Cruises statement said: "We are extremely disappointed about the inexcusable actions of our employees who violated our policies and environmental law when they bypassed our bilge water treatment system and discharged untreated bilge water into the ocean."
