Carnival Don't Care About The Planet
And They Prefer Not To Pay Crew More Money Either!
By Mike Groves
Greedy Carnival (UK) boss David Dingle has behaved like a whining baby this week after his somewhat embarrassing appearance at the SeaTrade Med conference in Cannes. He is reported to have moaned about a number of important issues such as future requirements to power their cruise ship’s on diesel fuel alone, a move that would dramatically reduce current sulphur emissions but if that was not enough, he then went on to moan about staff salaries. It would appear that Dingle is rather unhappy with the prospect of paying 'loyal employees' more money under current European employment law. Rather than using the opportunity to wave their corporate flag for the common good of all men; sounds like a scene from Les Miserable’s, Dingle clearly preferred to show the world that he doesn't really care for the little people!
Well it’s no surprise to me and to be honest with you, I am quite happy about it. I am happy because for once one of the ‘Fat Cats’ has dropped their guard and showed their true colors; they don’t care about the planet, they don’t really respect European employment law and they certainly have no care or respect for their staff. When I worked for them I noted how they did not respect ILO (International Labor Organization) regulations either!
I once submitted a complaint to the company on behalf of my staff because of continual breaches of the ILO regulations in respect of the hours they were forced to work, but not claim for. 'Carnivore' before you think you can sue me for slander don’t bother – I still have the original documents to prove it. I digress..........
First lets cover the issue of fuel emissions, something that Dingle and possibly the entire board of directors appear none too pleased about? Not satisfied with moaning on about that, Dingle went one step further and had a go at the International Maritime Organization (IMO), saying their policies to prevent ships from using bunker oils and only permitting them to burn low-emission fuels from 2015 were "ill-thought out!"
The IMO* is a highly respected and established organization and who’s remit includes safety, environmental concerns and maritime security, and yet Dingle has clearly demonstrated that he cannot even be bothered to show them any real courtesy in public? Again no real surprise because they ignored the IMO security advice in 2005 as well, so why on earth would they care about their views about reducing sulphur levels!
Dingle also added, “sulphur is the biggest threat to the cruise industry." Quite ridiculous! Clearly he is just focused on cost here and probably his end of year bonus. “We will no longer be able to burn the residual fuels that we put into ships now," said Dingle. "We will have to burn diesel, which is twice as expensive.” Dingle also expressed (YES – he is still moaning) that technology such as scrubbers currently being developed by Royal Caribbean to reduce sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide emissions would not be successful.“I doubt the seawater scrubber will work. The trials haven’t been very successful - don’t believe the optimism” he said.
It would appear Royal Caribbean would prefer to disagree! The company is leading on the research and only last week their chief environmental officer, Jamie Sweeting announced that the cruise giant had invested millions of pounds in making their ship Independence of the Seas more eco-friendly, and that the company was looking to fit an emissions scrubber to Independence. The scrubber is a shower-like system which captures sulphur dioxide and CO2, and could reduce sulphur dioxide by 99% and CO2 by over 50%. Sounds like a good idea to me.
Carnival Don't Care About The Planet
And They Prefer Not To Pay Crew More Money Either!
By Mike Groves QGM
Cruise Bruise Security And Safety Advisor
December 3, 2010
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figures 1 and 2 show two examples of wet scrubber designs, including their mist eliminators. Figure 1 is a venturi scrubber design. The mist eliminator for a venturi scrubber is often a separate device called a cyclonic separator.
Figure 2 has a tower design where the mist eliminator is built into the top of the structure. Various tower designs exist. Source wikipedia
Anyway I am not going to harp on anymore about Dingle’s rant over having to ‘help save the planet’. I think he has dug a big enough hole for himself.
I wish to turn my attention to something that is closer to my heart in this story, welfare of officers and crew. Dingle appears rather unhappy with the prospect of paying his loyal employees more money, saying that any demands to increase the pay of cruise ship crew would be "very bad news." One would not be mistaken for thinking Dingle sounds more like a 17th Century Naval Officer on board a Man of War with that statement, rather than the CEO he is. God this man comes across as arrogant?
Quite honestly many crew are paid an abysmal salary for the hours that they are required to work on board cruise ships, often having to share a small cabin with four or more employees and with only one toilet. In addition, there have been many documented cases where crew have joined cruise ships under false and misleading contracts, only to find themselves on less money and not doing the job they were recruited for, such as pot wash, garbage disposal, cleaning toilets/sewage tanks or being allocated to the ‘vomit squads’. Some of these accounts were captured in the great book by the author Kristoffer Garin’s book, ‘Devils on the Deep Blue Sea’
"Europe is an enlightened place and wants employees to be treated properly, which is a good thing," Dingle said. "But this must not be taken to ridiculous extremes. We employ people all over the world at levels that are lower than what we would pay European employees, but people from these areas are clamoring to come and work with us because the wages are still much higher than they would get otherwise."
Seriously, this guy goes on more than I do; when talking about Carnival of course!
"It is important not to lose this fight. If Brussels imposes European pay levels, it will be very bad news for employers and very bad news for the employees, because we give them employment, and we have to be able to afford to do this." ’It is important we do not lose this fight’ – sums it all up really doesn’t it.
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