Tag: waste management

Norwegian-owned Geminor has opened a new RDF waste import terminal, located between APM Terminals and the Gothenburg Roro Terminal at the Port of Gothenburg. RDF stands for Refuse Derived Fuel and is basically waste that has been sorted and baled.

The governing bodies of the London Convention and Protocol, at their joint session held at the IMO Headquarters in London expressed concern around the issue of litter and plastics in the marine environment.

The 1996 "London Protocol" covering the dumping of wastes at sea entered into force ten years ago (24th March 2006). The Protocol modernized the original “London Convention” dumping treaty, bringing in a so-called “precautionary approach” that heralded a new era of prohibition of all dumping at sea with the exception of wastes commonly agreed by Governments and then put on an approved list.

AMSA has issued Marine Notice to provide advise on how to ensure adequate waste reception facilities. The provision of adequate port waste reception facilities for ship-generated waste is vital to preventing marine pollution.

European shipowners have issued a position paper on the upcoming revision of the Port Reception Facilities (PRF) Directive adopted in 2000 as a reaction to the recently published ‘inception Impact Assessment’ by the European Commission. In the paper, the shipping industry calls among others for adequate and sufficient port reception facilities for ship-generated waste and harmful cargo residues, a more transparent and fair fee system as well as an efficient monitoring and enforcement mechanism.

From 1 January 2016 sea-going vessels will be able to dispose of unlimited plastic ships’ waste free of charge in the ports of Rotterdam Rijnmond and the North Sea Channel district.

 IMO experts are attending a workshop dealing with the regulation of dumping of wastes at sea, under the London Protocol, in Bangkok, Thailand (10-11 August). The workshop is designed to help protect against unregulated disposal of wastes at sea by encouraging cooperation among the participating countries and stressing the need to accede to the protocol.The participating countries (Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Viet Nam and Thailand) have yet to accede to any international dumping agreement – as required under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Fredrik Haag and Ruijun Sun are representing IMO at the event, which is hosted by the Marine Department of Thailand and funded by the Republic of Korea.​The "Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972", the "London Convention" for short, is one of the first global conventions to protect the marine environment from human activities and has been in force since 1975. Its objective is to promote the effective control of all sources of marine pollution and to take all practicable steps to prevent pollution of the sea by dumping of wastes and other matter. Currently, 87 States are Parties to this Convention.In 1996, the ...

  A new briquetting technology by the Finnish company Evac reduces ships’ garbage volume by a factor of 10. Evac’s machine, with a footprint of approximately two square meters, is paired with Evac’s mixed waste macerator to form dry briquettes that can be stored for landing or incinerated at sea. Given heavy legal restrictions on incineration of waste at sea, Evac’s technology is a 24/7 solution that enables cruise ships to remain at sea up to seven times longer. “In an environment when a ship may not use its incinerator, the garbage room will be filled floor to ceiling in two days,” says Jari Jokela, PhD, Evac Senior Process Specialist. “Evac’s briquetting technology enables a cruise ship to potentially operate without incineration or landing the waste for a full two-week voyage.” “Waste stored in the traditional plastic bags has density of 50 to 60 kilos per cubic meter, but the briquette’s density is 550 to 600 kilos per cubic meter,” adds Jokela. The space savings translate to a dramatic reduction in operating costs – an estimated 25% cheaper than incineration when diesel and energy consumption is considered. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkXlOqrtZN0 Jokela says additional savings in total waste management costs can come into play ...

  A federal grand jury in Lafayette, Louisiana, has returned a three-count indictment charging Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab AS (DSD Shipping) and four employees with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and obstruction of justice in connection with the illegal discharge of contaminated waste-water directly into the sea, announced Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley for the Western District of Louisiana.  DSD Shipping is a Norwegian-based shipping company that operates the oil tanker M/T Stavanger Blossom, a vessel engaged in the international transportation of crude oil.  Also indicted were four engineering officers employed by DSD Shipping to work aboard the vessel: Daniel Paul Dancu, 51, of Romania; Bo Gao, 49, of China; Xiaobing Chen, 34, of China; and Xin Zhong, 28, of China. The operation of marine vessels, like the M/T Stavanger Blossom, generates large quantities of waste oil and oil-contaminated waste water.  International and U.S. law requires that these vessels use pollution prevention equipment to preclude the discharge of these materials.  Should any overboard discharges occur, they must be documented in an oil record book, a log that is regularly inspected ...

  Ports of Stockholm has the capabilities to manage practically all waste. Seven out of ten cruise ships offload their waste water in port, while many others purify this themselves aboard the vessel. Ports of Stockholm is one of the world's leading ports when it comes to being able to process and recycle the waste that is produced aboard vessels. At no extra charge vessels have the opportunity to offload their waste water at all of our cruise ship quay-berths, as this service is included in the port fee. Vessels can also offload their waste water to tanker trucks, pontoons and boats in Stockholm. Last year around 70 percent of cruise vessels offloaded their waste water during their call at Ports of Stockholm. The cruise shipping companies are well aware that the environment is a survival factor for the future and are continuously striving for improvement. Many of the vessels that do not offload their waste water in port instead have their own purification facilities aboard the vessel. The remaining few do not do anything they are legally not allowed to do. Purification facilities aboard the vessel, recycling, sorting of waste, more energy efficient, environmentally cleaner engines and alternative fuels are ...