£800k for sailor who blew whistle on ‘dirty’ cruise
‘Magic pipe’ pollution from luxury ship exposed
A SCOTS whistleblower has been awarded almost £800,000 for exposing illegal pollution practices by a luxury cruise operator.
Marine engineer Christopher Keays, 31, recorded thousands of gallons of oily waste being pumped into the sea from cruise ship the Caribbean Princess.
Mr Keays, of Glasgow, was working for Princess Cruises as the third assistant engineer on the ship in 2013 when he discovered a ‘magic pipe’ that was being used to discharge the waste into British waters.
On docking in Southampton in August 2013, Mr Keays resigned and presented his evidence to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, which handed it to the US Coast Guard to investigate before the ship docked back in America.
He has now being given the reward by the US courts after they prosecuted operator Princess Cruises, part of the giant US-based Carnival Corporation, over the offence. The company has been handed a landmark $40million (£31million) fine after admitting polluting the sea and trying to cover it up.
Mr Keays, who is now working in Spain refitting boats, said he was delighted to be vindicated. He said: ‘I am overwhelmed that the results of the investigation became so extensive.
‘That the results showed lies and wrongdoing over such a long period of time gives me a great sense of relief that I acted when I did. It took a long time for the case to build. It’s great that it’s closed now and that action is being taken to punish a company that turned a blind eye for so long. It was fantastic to be involved in something that’s done some good to protect our environment.
‘I still work with boats but am shore based. I go to different yards and do refits.’
In a letter to the US Justice Department, Mr Keays, who studied engineering at the Glasgow College of Nautical Studies, added: ‘Thinking back, I had not considered the implications of my response and that my career may be over before it barely started. The disregard for lawful practice and pollution of the sea without remorse left me with a genuine sadness, that I was at the start of my career in an industry so irresponsible.’
Mr Keays filmed the secret pipe, the tanks of oily bilge water, and onboard computers that were manipulated to show false discharge readings. Investigators found the 3,192-passenger Caribbean Princess had made illegal discharges since 2005, and that once discovered senior crew onboard ordered a cover-up, which included removing the ‘magic pipe’. The practice was found to have been commonplace on four other ships in the company’s fleet.
As well as Mr Keays’ reward, a quarter of the fine is earmarked for maritime conservation, with at least £780,000 directed towards British projects.
Rear Admiral Scott Buschman, of the US Coast Guard, praised Mr Keay’s bravery in coming forward at the court case in Miami. He said: ‘Without the courageous act of a junior crew member to alert authorities to these criminal behaviours of deliberately dumping oil at sea, the global environmental damage caused by the Princess fleet could have been much worse.
‘The selflessness of this individual exposed five different ships that embraced a culture of short cuts.’
Princess Cruises said: ‘We are extremely disappointed about the inexcusable actions of our employees who violated our policies and environmental law.
‘We are very sorry that this happened and have taken additional steps to ensure we meet or exceed all environmental requirements.’
‘Company turned a blind eye’