BATE: Ecotourism

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Ltd.

When we think about a cruise vacation we often think of the pretty picture the cruise lines paint for us through their advertising. We often think about the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines commercial where the water is clear and inviting, which is the image they want us to see. But unfortunately there is an image they don’t want us to see. This is the U.S. Coast Guard surveillance footage of a Royal Caribbean cruise liner leaving a seven-mile long wake of oily bilge.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), a Liberian company, was charged in 1994 with the largest criminal case of ocean pollution ever. RCCL was charged with 11 counts of illegal dumping of oil in U.S. waters. The U.S. federal government brought the lawsuit against it for pollution of its waterways. This raises key issues of corporate responsibility that affect the operations of multinational company and the difficulties of regulating the fast growing cruise industry. (Hoover's Company Profiles, 1999 & WWW.usdoj.gov.opa/pr/1996/Dec96/602enr.htm)

Initially, RCCL denied all charges, but was later found guilty in attempts to save on operating costs. The cruise line had maintained adequate environmental compliance, while the U.S. Federal government documented how the company was in total violation of it. Not only did RCCL not maintain such a program, but they also still polluted the waterways even after they were found guilty and paid a large fine. (The New York Times, 1996)

The key issues addressed

• Corporate responsibility to its mission statement, environment and its stakeholders.
• The business ethics of RCCL.
• The relationship between a multinational corporation and the government under whose laws it operates.
• The financial affects to RCCL.
• The steps RCCL took to change their environmental practices.

©Dina Fried, David Nenner, Heather Triano, Jenine Verdina
Business and the Environment, Summer, 1999
whayes@orion.ramapo.edu
June 30, 1999 05:28:10 PM