FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	ENR

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1998                                                                                  (202) 514-2008

                                                                                                                                                 TDD (202) 514-1888







 
ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE LINES INDICTED FOR LYING TO


THE COAST GUARD ABOUT OIL DUMPING








	WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., one of the
world's largest cruise lines, was indicted today by a federal
grand jury in Miami, for presenting false statements to the
United States Coast Guard during a pollution investigation of the
Nordic Empress cruise ship, the Justice Department announced.

	According to the indictment, on February 1, 1993, a Coast
Guard aircraft equipped with Forward Looking Infra-red Radar
(FLIR) observed and filmed a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, the
Nordic Empress, discharging pollutants on a return voyage to its
home port of Miami.  Forward Looking Infra-red Radar is an all-weather,
day or night, video detection system best known for its
use by the United States military's top line fighter aircraft and
bombers, which allows them to observe and strike targets with
great precision.

	When the ship arrived at port in Miami, later in the day,
the Coast Guard boarded it to investigate the pollution
discharges its aircraft had observed.  As part of its
investigation the Coast Guard was presented with a required log
book, the Nordic Empress Oil Record Book.  According to the
indictment, the Nordic Empress was fitted with a bypass pipe
allowing Royal Caribbean employees to discharge bilge waste from
the ship without first processing the waste through the Oil Water
Separator.  An Oil Water Separator is a required pollution
prevention device used to process bilge waste before it can be
discharged overboard.  Royal Caribbean is charged with knowing
that the Oil Record Book contained falsified information because,
even though the ship is equipped with a device that bypasses the
Oil Water Separator, it claimed that all of its discharges were
made through the separator.  

	"Making false statements to federal agencies and using
falsified documents undermines environmental protection," said
Lois Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the
Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. 
"Lying to federal agencies charged with helping to protect the
environment is a serious crime, and will be prosecuted.  Had the
Coast Guard known the truth about Royal Caribbean's equipment
that bypasses required pollution controls, it could have taken
action to protect our waters." 

	Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, which is incorporated in
Liberia and headquartered in Miami, operates more than 9 cruise
ships with over 130 ports of call on five continents.  Major U.S.
ports include New York, Miami, San Juan, St. Thomas, Los Angeles,
and Juneau.  	The case is being investigated by EPA's Criminal
Investigative Division, the U. S. Coast Guard Criminal
Investigative Service, and the FBI.  The case is being prosecuted
by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Watts-FitzGerald and by
Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Trial Attorney Richard
A. Udell. 

	An indictment represents charges brought by a federal grand
jury and is not itself evidence.  The government has the burden
of proving the charges at trial beyond a reasonable doubt.  The
government's investigation is continuing.

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