CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES IS IN FOR A FIGHT AFTER
residents in the historic town of Charleston,
South Carolina, lodged a lawsuit against the
company, which seems to be aimed at
driving larger vessels out of the city’s port.
According to reports, the lawsuit asserts
that “large cruise ship operations in the
heart of the city’s historic district run afoul
of local zoning ordinances, snarl traffic by
closing downtown streets, and violate state
environmental permitting laws.”
At the centre of the controversy is Carnival
Fantasy, the cruise line’s 2,056-passenger
vessel which began homeporting year-round
from Charleston earlier in the year, and
which lawsuit claimants are alleging causes
gridlock, noise and air pollution and disrupts
views, when visiting their “small historic
residential neighbourhoods”.
Countering the argument however are
town and port officials eager to keep tourism
flowing, with a statement from the local
Ports Authority saying the lawsuit lacks merit
and that “Carnival not only complies with all
applicable laws and regulations but, in many
cases, exceeds those requirements”.
