An up to date compilation of relevant information on port reception facilities (PRF) and applicable fees from all main passenger ports in the region has been updated and further developed in a HELCOM expert workshop in Szczecin, Poland today. This is the result from efforts by the HELCOM Secretariat in cooperation with Baltic Ports Organisation (BPO) since the summer of 2013. Adequate management of sewage from passenger ships will reduce harmful nutrients polluting the Baltic Sea. Compiling real-time information on the current status is an important step in the work to upgrade sewage reception in Baltic ports. The preparations are needed so that the 2011 decision by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) concerning the Baltic Sea as a sewage “special area” for passenger ships according to the MARPOL convention can take effect. Furthermore, it will help to follow through the 2013 HELCOM Interim Guidance on sewage delivery to port reception facilities, adopted in the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting last month by all the Contracting Parties including the nine Baltic coastal states and EU. HELCOM countries have agreed to report to IMO, by 2014 (IMO MEPC 67), that adequate facilities are available. The IMO decision to designate the Baltic Sea as an Annex IV “special area” in 2011 was based on the proposal by HELCOM countries submitted in 2010. Moreover, in anticipation of the IMO decision, Baltic Sea Cooperation platform on sewage PRFs had been set up after HELCOM Moscow Ministerial Meeting in 2010. The platform has involved the shipping industry, technology providers, ports and national authorities for discussions on outstanding issues around the improvement of sewage PRFs in the region. The coastal countries shall report to IMO 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. Note for editors:The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as , is an intergovernmental organization of the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the European Union. HELCOM has worked since 1974 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 further information, please contact:Mr. Hermanni BackerProfessional SecretaryHELCOMTel: +358 46 8509199Skype: helcom02E-mail:
HELCOM facilitates the IMO process to reduce sewage emissions from passenger ships in the Baltic Sea
