Engineer gets $1m after ship pollution revelation

A SCOTS marine engineer has been given a $1 million (£870,000) reward for exposing illegal pollution practices by a luxury cruise operator he worked for.

Whistleblower Christopher Keays, 31, secretly recorded thousands of gallons of oily waste being pumped into the sea from cruise ship the Caribbean Princess.

Mr Keays, from Glasgow, was working for Princess Cruises as the third assistant engineer on the ship in 2013 when he discovered a so-called “magic pipe” that was being used to discharge the waste into British waters.

On docking in Southampton in August 2013, Mr Keays, who studied mechanical engineering at the Glasgow College of Nautical Studies, resigned and presented his evidence to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), which handed it to the US coast guard to investigate before the ship docked back in America.

He has now been given the massive reward by the US courts after they prosecuted cruise operator Princess Cruises, part of the giant US-based Carnival Corporation, over the offence.

The company has been handed a landmark $40 million (£31m) 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 he had been 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.”