A federal judge launched a withering attack on Carnival Corp’s environmental record, with a threat to temporarily block all its ships from docking at US ports.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz said she will make a decision on that in June, and has asked top executives Micky Arison and president Donald Arnold to attend the hearing in person.
Carnival has been on probation as part of a $40 million settlement for illegally dumping oil at sea and attempting to cover it up.
Prosecutors say that during its probation period, Carnival has dumped grey water into Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park and has been preparing ships to hide any damaging evidence of possible new violations ahead of mandatory audits.
The five-year probation began in April 2017.
"The people at the top are treating this as a gnat. If I could, I would give all the members of the executive committee a visit to the detention center for a couple of days. It’s amazing how that helps people come to focus on reality," Judge Seitz said.
Prosecutors said internal emails showed the company discussed ‘managing issues before the audits and avoid findings’.
In a statement Carnival said: "It appears there were some mischaracterizations made by others to the court. We intend to fully address the issues raised at today’s court conference."
Chief communications officer Roger Frizzell added: "Our environmental responsibility has been and continues to be a top priority for the company."
