Seas At Risk, a Brussels-based marine organisation, has welcomed the decision by EU and 15 European governments to ban the discharge of scrubbers (exhaust gas cleaning systems) wash water in internal waters and port areas throughout the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR Maritime Area) by July 2027 – a landmark in regional shipping regulation.
Discharges from open-loop scrubbers, which use seawater to extract sulphur from exhaust gases before discharging the waste along with contaminants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals back into the sea, will be prohibited by July 2027.
Discharges from closed-loop scrubbers, which result in lower volumes but more concentrated waste, will be banned by January 2029. This marks the first time a regional regulation on scrubber discharges has been agreed and will address marine pollution waters of OSPAR Member governments, a momentous move that sets precedent for other regional seas.
Sian Prior, Shipping Director, Seas At Risk says, “This is a landmark moment for marine protection, showing that regional cooperation can drive real environmental progress in the maritime sector. Toxic waste water from scrubbers has no place in the ocean. This ban will not only be a boost for marine life, but also for coastal communities that rely on a healthy sea for their livelihoods.”
However, Seas At Risk notes that while a majority of OSPAR states wanted to be more ambitious and ban scrubber discharges throughout the full extent of territorial seas (12 nautical miles), a lack of full consensus meant that this element was not included in the current decision, and it will only be recommended that discharges are banned in territorial seas. A review of the impact for territorial seas of OSPAR Members will take place in the coming year, with a view to reaching a decision by 2027.
OSPAR was established in 1972 with the Oslo Convention against dumping and has been broadened to cover land-based sources of marine pollution and the offshore industry by the Paris Convention of 1974. The two conventions were unified and extended by the 1992 OSPAR Convention.
The fifteen states belonging to OSPAR are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
(Scrubber photo from Wartsila)