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Abuses: dumping sewage pollution into oceans; use of cheap air-polluting fuels; tax evasion; unfair labor wagesHarmful to both the environment and human health, cruises are one of the most destructive forms of travel. Carnival Corporation, which includes eleven different cruise line brands including Carnival Cruises, Costa Cruises, and P&O Princess Cruises, is the largest cruise operator in the world with its combined fleet totaling to over 100 ships. As the largest cruise operator, it is a major polluter of the ocean and perpetrator of corruption. The corporation profusely pollutes the environment, is guilty of tax evasion and injustices for its laborers, and lacks transparency with its consumers.Carnival Cruises received a failing grade for treatment of the ocean from Friends of the Earth’s reputable Cruise Ship Report Card, released at the end of 2013. Costa Cruises also received an “F” and P&O skated by with a “D-”. Friends of the Earth reported that 22 of Carnival’s ships still use 30-year-old technology for sewage treatment. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that sewage treated with this outdated technology contains very dangerous amounts of fecal bacteria and heavy metals, as well as excessive nutrients based on federal water quality standards. This sewage pollution can cause human illnesses including gastrointestinal disease and hepatitis through exposure to contaminated seafood and water. Excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus from cruise ship sewage can suffocate fish, shellfish, and coral reefs.Additionally the EPA reports that an average cruise ship with 3,000 passengers and crew produces 21,000 gallons of sewage each day. This sewage is often untreated and dumped in the ocean. This adds up to more than 1 billion gallons of sewage being dumped in the ocean by cruise ships each year. Since some new ships carry up to 8,000 passengers, this number could be even greater than calculated. Compared to sewage amounts, cruise ships generate and dump 8 times as much waste from sink, shower, and bath gray water. This waste contains many of the same pollutants as sewage and significantly affects water quality. Carnival Corporation owns 105 of the total 292 cruise ships active worldwide, making the corporation the culprit for more than one third of the world’s pollution from cruise ships.Carnival also pollutes the air with its tremendous fuel use. Last June, Carnival moved its ships from the Port of Baltimore back to Florida because new air quality standards in MD would require Carnival to use cleaner, safer fuels, and these new standards are not in affect in Florida. From ports in Florida, Carnival Corp can sail its ships by burning “bunker fuel” which is much cheaper, but 2,000 times dirtier and worse for the environment than diesel fuel sold at gas stations, according to Friends of the Earth. Carnival is making some advances in this front; the corporation is working to bring ships back to Baltimore and to install ships with exhaust cleaning systems. This is a step in the right direction, but Carnival still has a long way to go as the largest cruise line, creating the most pollution.Carnival Corp continues to be a corporate criminal through tax evasion and labor violations. Over the past five years, the corporation has only paid corporate taxes for a total of 1.1 percent of their $11.3 billion in profits, according to the New York Times. Additionally Carnival’s workers are paid substandard wages; staff members on United Kingdom-based ships are paid $1.20 per hour, or $400 per month in basic wages, and claim to be denied their tips. Their pay is below international standards. Workers are also allegedly given minimal accommodations and often insufficient food. The cruise system makes it very easy for labor to be abused, and Carnival Cruises has been called a “sweatshop at sea.”Finally, Carnival is jeopardizing customer safety and lacks transparency with its customers. Often times people who fall overboard are overboard for hours and incidents are not reported. The vast majority of tragic instances aboard cruise ships are never reported at all. In October 2012, Sarah Kirby was aboard a Carnival cruise and fell overboard at night. Although the incident was witnessed and immediately reported, the ship sped off and did not rescue Kirby for over two hours. She claims to not have received medical treatment for 16 hours after the incident. Carnival corporation’s consumers are not made aware of the actual risks they face.Carnival Corp continually acts as a corporate criminal, and now does not want people to know about its actions. Carnival and a few other cruise lines have announced that they will no longer participate in Friends of the Earth’s environmental survey on cruise lines. The company says its own sustainability reports are sufficient and it does not support the information and data released by Friends of the Earth.
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