HELCOM and cruising industry launch joint survey on sewage delivery in the Baltic

HELCOM and Cruise Lines International Association Europe (CLIA) have launched a joint information gathering on sewage delivery in the Baltic Sea Region in advance of the 2014 summer season. The survey aims to collect detailed data on sewage delivery needs and available facilities, based on each visit. The two main sources of such information are cruise ships and ports visited by such ships.

The survey is connected to the 2011 International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) designation of the Baltic Sea as a ”special area” for passenger ships in terms of MARPOL Annex IV (on sewage from ships) based on a proposal from the region. Less untreated sewage released to the sea would help reduce harmful nutrients polluting the Baltic Sea environment.

In the new survey the participating cruise ships are invited to fill in their experiences with port reception facilities (PRF), as well as their own sewage delivery needs, when visiting ports in the Baltic Sea region. Ports are encouraged to provide their observations on the use of their sewage PRFs to supplement the information provided by the cruise industry.

According to the IMO decision on sewage from passenger ships, the coastal countries of the Baltic Sea, convening within HELCOM, shall report to IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) once the sewage reception facilities in the Baltic Sea ports fulfill the criteria of adequacy, before the “special area” regulations will take effect on 1.1.2016, at the earliest.

In order to assist the process, HELCOM has compiled information on the current status of sewage PRFs and the level of cruise traffic, as well as facilitated dialogue in the region between the different actors involved since 2010. Based on information received from ports and national administrations during last year, HELCOM developed the publication “2013 HELCOM overview of port reception facilities for sewage in the Baltic Sea area and related trends in passenger traffic” which was recently published at the HELCOM website.

The ship-specific results of the survey now launched will be used to further develop and update the 2013 overview during the autumn of 2014.

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For further information, please contact:

Hermanni Backer
Professional Secretary for Maritime, Response and Maritime Spatial Planning
HELCOM
Tel:  +358 46 8509199
Skype: helcom02
E-mail: hermanni.backer(at)helcom.fi