HELCOM countries to finalize a joint submission to IMO on a total ban on sewage discharges from ships

Helsinki, 23 November (HELCOM Information Service) – The Maritime Group of the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM MARITIME) will hold its regular Meeting 24-26 November in Lübeck, Germany, to discuss further measures to improve safety of navigation and reduce pollution from ships in the Baltic Sea.

The major focus of the Meeting will be on the preparations for the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting to be held on 20 May 2010 in Moscow. The HELCOM Member States will discuss the progress made in implementing the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan to reduce pollution to the marine environment and come up with follow-up proposals to further increase maritime safety and reduce environmental impact of shipping in the Baltic Sea for adoption at the Ministerial Meeting.

Representatives of the coastal countries are expected to agree on a joint proposal to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to ban discharge of sewage from passenger ships and ferries in the Baltic Sea unless it has been sufficiently treated to remove nutrients or delivered to port reception facilities. Excessive inputs of nutrients are the cause behind the biggest environmental problem of the Baltic Sea, which is eutrophication.

“Currently international regulations do not contain requirements to remove nutrients from ships’ sewage prior to discharge into the sea,” says Monika Stankiewicz, Professional Secretary for maritime and oil accident response issues at HELCOM. “The nutrient pollution loads originating from wastewater discharges from ships into the Baltic Sea, even though rather small, are not negligible due to the high sensitivity of the marine environment.”

This is a second round of negotiations on the proposal, which is now not only addressing the needs of the Baltic Sea, but will also enable other regions around the world suffering from eutrophication to designate their seas as special areas for sewage. The joint proposal will be submitted to the 60th session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee.

Improvements in availability of port reception facilities for ship-generated waste, especially for sewage, will be another major topic of the Meeting.  The HELCOM Member States will begin developing an action plan for upgrading reception facilities for sewage in selected major passenger ports in the Baltic in order to be able to receive bigger amounts of wastes once the ban on sewage discharges has entered into force.

Representatives of the coastal countries will also evaluate progress made in drafting a proposal to IMO to designate the Baltic Sea as NOx (nitrogen oxide) emission control area under Annex IV of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78) in order to ensure, in a long run, an 80% reduction of NOx emissions from ships. Atmospheric nitrogen deposition is one of the main contributors to the high nutrient concentrations that stimulate massive algae blooms in the Baltic. Shipping is the third biggest contributor to the oxidized nitrogen deposited to the Baltic Sea. 

Among other topmost issues, there are also matters related to the safety of navigation, including the revision of the Baltic Sea hydrographic re-survey plan and actions to ensure wider usage of the Electronic Chart Display and Information System onboard ships.  Additionally, the Meeting will consider a number of issues related to the implementation of the Ballast Water Management Convention, finalize the new HELCOM Recommendation on mutual plan for places of refuge and discuss a pilot project to test and implement broad-scale Maritime Spatial Planning in the Baltic Sea.

The Meeting will be conducted by the Chair of the HELCOM Maritime Group, Ms. Lolan Eriksson of the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications.

Note to Editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), is an intergovernmental organisation of the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the European Community working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution and to ensure safety of navigation in the region.

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

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Monika Stankiewicz

Professional Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)207 412 643

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: monika.stankiewicz@helcom.fi

Mr. Nikolay Vlasov

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)207 412 635

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi