Cruise ship captain fined for burning high sulfur fuel

Dec 3, 2018 by Triton Staff

A French court has fined a U.S. cruise ship captain €100,000 for breaking European Union pollution laws after the ship was found to be burning bunker fuel with a sulfur content of 1.68 percent, above the EU limit of 1.5 percent.

In the first ruling of its kind, Capt. Evans Hoyt of Azura was fined €100,000. The judge ordered that Carnival Cruises, which owns the manager and operator of Azura, P&O Cruises, pay €80,000 of the fine.

According to news reports, Carnival Cruises has appealed the fine, stating that it had been previously informed by the French environment ministry that the law did not apply to cruise ships.

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