Marine Pollution: Progress Made to Reduce Marine Pollution by Cruise Ships, but Important Issues Remain: RCED-00-48.

Cargo ships, tankers, cruise ships, and other commercial vessels registered, or ?flagged,? in foreign countries have been involved in almost 2,400 confirmed cases of illegally discharging oil, garbage, and other harmful substances into U.S. coastal waters between 1993 and 1998. Cruise ships accounted for about four percent of all confirmed cases of illegal discharges by commercial foreign-flagged ships during that time. This report answers the following questions: What are the nature and the extent of reported illegal discharge cases for foreign-flagged cruise ships from 1993 through 1998? What efforts have relevant federal agencies made to prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute illegal discharges from foreign-flagged cruise ships? What steps have cruise ship companies taken to prevent future illegal discharges? What are the views of relevant federal agencies and third-party interest groups on the steps that cruise ship companies have taken, and what issues do they believe require further attention? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of GAO Reports is the property of U.S. Government Accountability Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)