HELCOM Maritime Group holds its 10th annual meeting on 15 - 17 November 2011:

HELCOM Intensifies Efforts to Ensure Adequate Port Reception Facilities for Sewage

15 November 2011, Helsinki Finland (HELCOM Information Services) – The Maritime Group of the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM MARITIME) holds its annual Meeting on 15-17 November 2011 in Helsinki, Finland, to agree on further measures for cleaner and safer shipping in the Baltic Sea region. The main focus of the meeting is on follow-up actions in relation to the major decision of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in July this year, to ban sewage discharges from passenger ships in the Baltic Sea. Another key point on the agenda is to conclude a four-year development of a joint HELCOM submission to IMO on designating the Baltic Sea as a Nitrogen oxide (NOx) Emission Control Area (NECA).

Representatives of the Baltic Sea countries, the European Union and interested stakeholders, including ports and ship owners, will devise further activities to facilitate the work on upgrading port reception facilities (PRF) for sewage in passenger ports of the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea countries agreed to ensure availability of adequate PRFs by 2015 at the latest.

The representatives will consider a proposal for guidance, which showcases best practices, suggests practical solutions and makes recommendations on technical and operational aspects of sewage delivery to PRFs. The guidance, which has been developed within the HELCOM’s Cooperation Platform on PRFs, will cover the whole chain of sewage delivery from generation onboard a ferry or a cruise ship through port reception to final disposal at a wastewater treatment plant.

The meeting also aims to finalize the contents of the joint submission to IMO to designate the Baltic Sea as a NECA under the international MARPOL convention. Under NECA status, the Baltic Sea will see substantial reductions in the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from ships which, in turn, will have positive effects on marine environment and human health along coastal areas. The experts will look at means on how to achieve the NECA emission standards, such as the use of liquefied natural gas as fuel.

New outcomes from studies related to the risk assessment of alien species transfer via ships’ ballast water and sediments on intra-Baltic routes are on the meeting agenda as well. These studies deal with unified interpretation of the provisions of the Ballast Water Management Convention related to e.g. exemptions from applying ballast water management. HELCOM has been working on speeded ratification and harmonized implementation of the Convention by the coastal states by the agreed deadline of 2013. 

The Contracting Parties will also deliberate safety of navigation. The aim is to strengthen regional cooperation on maritime safety, including progress in hydrographic re-surveys and outcomes of the overall risk assessment of shipping accidents within BRISK/BRISK-RU projects. Other important issues in the efforts towards safer navigation are the MONALISA project on innovative e-navigational services, and Plan Bothnia project on the development of a transboundary maritime spatial plan for the Bothnian Sea.

The Meeting is hosted by the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications, and is chaired by Ms. Lolan Eriksson, Chair of HELCOM MARITIME.

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Note to Editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission usually referred to as the Helsinki Commission or HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organization of the nine Baltic Sea countries and the European Union which works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution.

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," known as the Helsinki Convention.

Maritime Group (HELCOM MARITIME):

During the last decade shipping has steadily increased in the Baltic Sea, reflecting intensifying co-operation and economic prosperity around the region. At the same time, increasing maritime transportation threatens fragile ecosystems and the livelihoods of the many people who depend on the sea. More than 2,000 ships are at sea each day and the number is predicted to keep growing. Between 2006 and 2010, the number of ships entering or leaving the Baltic Sea via Skaw increased by more than 10%. Passenger ships comprise approximately 11% of the total ship traffic in the Baltic Sea. Some 91 million passengers in international traffic passed through over 50 Baltic Sea ports in 2008.

The Maritime Group of the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM MARITIME) identifies and promotes actions to limit sea-based pollution and ways for safer navigation. It also works to ensure the enforcement and harmonized implementation of international shipping regulations.

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For further information please contact

Ms. Monika Stankiewicz

Professional Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 40 840 2471

Fax: +358 207 412 645

E-mail: monika.stankiewicz@helcom.fi

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 40 523 8988

Fax: +358 207 412 645

E-mail: johanna.laurila@helcom.fi