Cruise Engineer Accused in Dumping of Waste
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LOS ANGELES — A chief engineer for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines was accused of ordering crew members to dump untreated waste water into the Pacific Ocean in an indictment unsealed in Los Angeles Friday.
The engineer, Oystein Larsen, was arrested Thursday when he disembarked from a Royal Caribbean vessel, the Voyager, after it docked in Miami, said William Carter, an assistant U.S. attorney.
Larsen is charged with one count of conspiracy and two counts of causing false statements to be made to the U.S. Coast Guard about the treatment of waste materials aboard the Nordic Prince, once part of the Royal Caribbean fleets.
If convicted, he faces a statutory maximum of 15 years in prison and a $750,000 fine.
In July, Royal Caribbean pleaded guilty to charges related to dumping waste off the West and East coasts, in the Caribbean and in the Inside Passage of Alaska. The company was fined $18 million.
Larsen was freed on $250,000 bond after a hearing Friday in Miami federal court. He will be arraigned in Los Angeles.
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