ECSA calls for 'harmonised, clear, long-term' scrubber legislation

“ECSA urges national competent authorities in member states to define with no delay a harmonised, clear and long-term position on the discharge of scrubbing technology washwater in ports, estuaries and coastal waters,” the paper reads. “ECSA stresses that the IMO Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS) Guidelines should prevail and should not be overruled by diverging local regulations.”

The paper stressed that due to the stipulations of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), vessels with open-loop scrubbers may be barred from discharging in waters close to the shore, leaving some vessels with no choice but non-compliance with either the 0.1% sulphur directive or the WFD. Moreover, disparities in the cleanliness of the water in various ports in the EU mean that washwater discharges are liable to fall foul of some WFD tests but not others.

Meanwhile, owners operating closed-loop scrubber systems are also at risk, thanks to substances in bleed-off water.

Further, ECSA criticises the “lack of information on the actual composition of washwater discharges,” indicating that it is “not possible to ascertain” whether scrubber discharges are non-compliant with EU WFD standards.

“The current uncertainty jeopardises investments already made by shipowners eager to meet the compliance criteria before the fast-approaching deadline of 1 January 2015, but more importantly hinders the commissioning of future scrubber installations,” said Patrick Verhoeven, ECSA secretary-general. “Any restriction of the use of scrubber technology should in our view be preceded by a scientific assessment with any changes in the approval procedure of such systems reflected under IMO rules. Also, shipowners that have already committed to a scrubbing system should not be disproportionately penalised”.

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