MIAMI - Carnival Cruise Line has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury to provide documents about environmental practices on its ships.
The subpoena suggests that the Miami-based cruise giant, which operates six lines, could be the target of a continuing pollution investigation similar to one that resulted in a conviction and fine of rival Royal Caribbean.
''At present we know very little about why the subpoena came to us and what the U.S. attorney is looking for,'' the company said in a statement Monday.
Rosa Rodriguez, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis, said Tuesday the prosecutor's office would have no comment.
Carnival disclosed the subpoena Friday as part of its quarterly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The subpoena, received in August, mentioned all six Carnival lines, including Holland America, Windstar, Costa, Cunard and Seabourn.
Miami-based Royal Caribbean was fined $18 million after pleading guilty in July 1999 to charges related to dumping waste in the Caribbean and the Pacific. The company paid $9 million after pleading guilty to similar charges in 1998.
After the Royal Caribbean case, officials with the Justice Department's environmental crimes unit said it would keep looking into possible cruise ship pollution.
Holland America agreed in a 1998 plea bargain to pay a $2 million in fines for pumping untreated bilge water overboard in Alaskan waters.
Earlier this year, six cruise lines got notices from Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation that some of their ships violated state air-quality standards, but it wasn't known if those cases were related to the federal subpoena.
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