Princess Cruises Fined $40 Mln for Pollution
Princess Cruise Lines Ltd. was sentenced to pay a $40 million penalty – the largest-ever for crimes involving deliberate vessel pollution – related to illegal dumping overboard of oil contaminated waste and falsification of official logs in order to conceal the discharges. The sentence was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Acting U.S. Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg for the Southern District of Florida in Miami. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Patricia A.
Breakthrough for Dutch Yachtbuilding Industry
As of 1 July 2009, yachts larger than 78.7 ft registered under the Dutch flag can be built in accordance with the international Large Yacht Code 2. The Dutch regulations have been adapted and potential yacht owners can now come to Holland for the design, construction, registration and operation of their yacht. It has been a thorn in the side of the industry for years that yachts built in accordance with the technical requirements of the Large Yacht Code 2 of the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) could not be registered under the Dutch flag. In practice all yachts larger than 24 metres are built to meet these requirements. HISWA Holland Marine Industry, the trade association for the Dutch watersports industry, is enthusiastic.
