IMO MEPC 69 agreed that the Baltic Sea special area for sewage discharges from passenger ships under Annex IV or the MARPOL Convention will take effect by latest 2021 for IMO registered passenger vessels. However, in certain cases of direct passages between St. Petersburg area and the North Sea there is a two-year extension to the deadline, until 2023.
The decision means that by 2021 all IMO registered passenger vessels sailing in the Baltic Sea, as the first region in the world, must discharge all sewage at port reception facilities (PRFs), or treat it with an on-board treatment plant certified to meet stringent special area requirements. For new ships built on or later than 2019, these requirements will apply earlier.
he significant outcome concludes the long HELCOM process aiming to limit sewage discharges in the Baltic Sea from passenger vessels, as the emissions have negative impact on the marine environment.
The decision was made during the meeting of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) ending today in London.
The proposal to designate the Baltic Sea as a special area for sewage within MARPOL Annex IV was developed by the HELCOM Maritime Working Group, which is made up of maritime administrations of the Baltic Sea coastal countries and the EU. This proposal was submitted to IMO MEPC by the coastal countries in 2010, following a decision by the 2007 HELCOM Ministerial Meeting in Cracow, Poland.
Based on the submission the Baltic Sea was designated by IMO as a special area for sewage in 2011. However, according to the IMO decision this status would only take effect once the coastal countries informed IMO that adequate Port Reception Facilities are available in the region.
By the IMO meeting this week, all Baltic coastal countries had sent confirmation of adequate reception facilities in Baltic ports, as a result of substantial work on port reception facilities for sewage and their use in the Baltic Sea area by national administrations, ports and the passenger ship industry.
In order to document overall progress on sewage PRFs and their use in the region during recent years, an overview document was published by HELCOM in early 2015.
In July 2011, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) designated the Baltic Sea as a special area for sewage from passenger ships. The decision entered into force on 1 January 2013.
Originally the special area status, referring to amendments in IMO MARPOL Annex IV, was planned to take effect on 1 January 2016 for new ships and 1 January 2018 for old, at the earliest. However, the dates have since – as of IMO meeting in April 2015 – been postponed to 2019 and 2021, respectively.
The effective application of this already existing legal status has been, according to the 2011 IMO decision, subject to the availability of adequate sewage Port Reception Facilities (PRF) in the region. This availability of adequate sewage PRF has to be separately notified to IMO MEPC by the coastal countries. All HELCOM countries have informed of such adequacy in December 2014.
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Source: HELCOM
