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Passenger Ship Sewage Discharge to Be Banned in the Baltic Sea

Passenger ships should comply with the anti-discharge regulations by 2016 (new ships) and 2018 (existing ships). Photo: Maritime Office in Gdynia

The amendment of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), more specifically Annex IV, has introduced the concept of Special Areas for discharging sewage from passenger ships and has made the Baltic Sea the first such area in the world.

These new regulations were rubber-stamped by the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee in July this year, following four years of intensive work by the Baltic Sea countries to develop and agree on the proposal as well as to discuss and back it up in the IMO. 

All passenger ships operating in the Baltic Sea Special Area will be required to treat its sewage prior to its discharge to the sea, or alternatively deliver it to a port reception facility. Onboard treatment will have to result in nutrient reduction comparable to the high standard in municipal wastewater treatment plants on land. It will be mandatory for new and existing passenger ships to comply with the anti-discharge regulations by 2016 and 2018, respectively.

The Special Area status will be enforced when HELCOM countries notify the IMO that adequate reception facilities for sewage are available in their passenger ports. The upgrading efforts, agreed by the coastal countries and facilitated by the HELCOM Cooperation Platform on Port Reception Facilities, are expected to be completed by 2015 at the latest.

The more stringent regulations are part of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan adopted by the environment ministers of the coastal countries in 2007, and is another milestone in protecting the marine environment against pollution from ships and combating its major environmental problem - eutrophication. Previously, far-reaching prohibitions and restrictions on any discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixtures and garbage have been introduced by the Baltic Sea States, under Annexes I and V of MARPOL.