Baltic ports encourage eco-friendly solutions

With all stakeholders united by the vision of a clean Baltic and the ports often taking up the mantle of leadership, the Baltic region has shown remarkable ingenuity and determination when confronted with the strict SOx limits in ship fuels, assuring that the implementation of the new rules was a smooth process.


Scrubbers

Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS), popularly known as scrubbers, are one of the abatement techniques employed by shipowners to comply with the Sulphur regulations

Within the European SECA 5.4% of the total short sea shipping fleet has been equipped with scrubbers by the end of 2015 (i.e. 73 vessels; 10 more were scheduled to be retrofitted at the beginning of 2016).

The use of scrubbers creates a need for receiving waste, generated by the EGC systems. This kind of waste is currently not within the scope of EU Directive 2000/59/EC, which obliges ports to receive specified wastes under the waste fee.
Baltic ports encourage eco-friendly solutions employed by the shipowners and took it upon themselves to enable the disposal of scrubber waste.

Stay tuned for the next e-shot highlighting another compliance method employed in the Baltic Sea region to meet the strict Sulphur regulations.

The perfect reading companion

Find more information on scrubbers in the recent BPO report “The Baltic Sea as a model region for green ports and maritime transport”. It is available for download, completely free of charge, on the BPO website. Grab a copy and get aboard!