Filenews 23 March 2022 - by Vassos Vassiliou
Order with the waste of ships in ports, marinas and fishing shelters is imposed by regulations which are forwarded to the plenary of the House for approval by the Parliamentary Committee on Transport. The regulations should have been approved by 28 June 2021 but because the Cypriot legislation was not in line with the relevant EU Directive, the European Commission initiated, against the Republic, an infringement procedure which is at the stage of a letter of formal notice.
According to the regulations, ports, marinas and fishing shelters are required to draw up and implement a waste reception and management plan. Any master whose ship arrives at a port of the Republic is obliged to deliver the waste before he or she sails.
Moreover, an obligation is imposed on the operator of a ship (the master or the agent of a ship) that will call at a port of the Republic to notify in advance the existence of waste.
During the discussion of the regulations, a representative of the Deputy Ministry of Shipping said that the provisions of the regulations regulate, among other things, "the operation of facilities for the reception of oily waste from ships and oil cargo residues, as well as the operation of facilities for the reception of wastewater and wastes other than oily waste".
At the same time, the conduct of inspections of reception facilities from time to time is also regulated.
Under certain conditions, ships operating a regular service with frequent and regular mooring are exempted from the obligation to deliver waste.
Excluded ships include ships operating port services, warships, auxiliary vessels or other ships belonging to the Republic or operated by the Republic and used exclusively for government service or non-commercial activity.
The purpose of the adoption of the regulations is to protect the marine environment from the negative effects of the discharge of waste from ships, including fishing vessels and recreational craft.
The Regulations fall within the scope of Articles 12(3) and 22(2)(c) of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Ships and aim at repealing the existing Facilities for the Reception and Prohibition of Discharges of Ship-Generated Waste and Cargo Residues into the Sea and their replacement for the purpose of harmonising national legislation with the Act of the European Union entitled "Directive (EU) 2019/883 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019.
