• A federal judge said on Wednesday that she may temporarily ban Carnival Corp. from docking its ships at US ports, the Miami Herald reported.
  • Prosecutors reportedly alleged that the company has violated the terms of a settlement from 2017 that came after the Carnival subsidiary Princess Cruises pleaded guilty to illegally releasing oil into the ocean and deliberately hiding the practice.
  • A Carnival representative told Business Insider that the company was aware of the allegations made by prosecutors regarding its adherence to the settlement.
  • “We intend to fully address the issues raised at [Wednesday’s] court conference,” the representative said.

A federal judge said on Wednesday that she may temporarily ban Carnival Corp. from docking its ships at US ports after prosecutors alleged that the company violated the terms of its probation, the Miami Herald reported.

Prosecutors reportedly alleged that the company has violated the terms of a settlement from 2017 that came after the Carnival subsidiary Princess Cruises pleaded guilty to illegally releasing oil into the ocean and deliberately hiding the practice. Princess was ordered to pay $40 million as part of the settlement.

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Carnival has since been on a five-year probation, during which it must allow a third-party inspector to examine its ships. Prosecutors alleged that Carnival enacted a system designed to reduce the chances that the inspector would find any violations, according to the Miami Herald report. Carnival has reportedly said it ended the system by the end of 2017, but the prosecutors alleged that it was implemented in 2018.

Since the 2017 settlement, Carnival has also created false maintenance records, released waste into the ocean and in Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park, and contacted the US Coast Guard in an effort to alter the conditions of the settlement, prosecutors alleged, according to the Miami Herald. Carnival reportedly denied that it has appealed to the Coast Guard to change its settlement, saying instead that it was seeking clarification about a part of the settlement.

US District Judge Patricia Seitz intends to decide whether to punish Carnival over the accusations of misconduct at a hearing in June, the Miami Herald reported.

A Carnival representative told Business Insider that the company was aware of the allegations made by prosecutors regarding its adherence to the settlement.

"Our environmental responsibility has been and continues to be a top priority for the company," a Carnival representative told Business Insider. "It appears there were some mischaracterizations made by others to the court. We intend to fully address the issues raised at [Wednesday's] court conference."

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