These cases have involved both small and large cruise companies in a diversity of surrounding circumstances and volume of discharge, which also varies widely, from tons of oil and solid garbage to drops of oil-based paint that spilled into the water during painting of a ship’s hull.
Regarding the causes, in some cases environmental incidents is accidental, resulting from mere human or mechanical error, such as many fuel-related discharge cases involving cruise ships loading fuel in port. In other cases, environmental damage is caused in circumstances that cannot be determined from the available information.