Filenews 22 April 2024
A fine has been imposed on the owners of 16 ships in the last 10 years for pollution caused by petroleum products, illegal discharge of sewage, illegal cleaning of vessels without obtaining approval from the Port Authority, change of ballast water within the port without the written consent of the Authority, causing extensive air pollution, dumping of solid waste etc.
It is noted that in at least two cases the ships caused extensive air pollution.
The above figures were presented by the Minister of Transport Alexis Vafeadis in response to a question by MP Charalambos Theopemptou regarding the controls carried out by the competent authorities regarding the management of waste from ships / vessels located at anchorage.
The financial penalties were imposed following complaints and/or inspections by officers of the Port Authority. A total of 11 of the pollution incidents occurred from ships in Limassol port, one in Vasilikos port and four in Larnaka port.
The minister clarifies that CPA has no jurisdiction over marinas where a large number of yachts dock.
Another issue that concerns the Port Authority concerns points or pipelines for the discharge of sewage that appear to flow irregularly into port areas.
In the reply of the Minister of Transport to Mr. Theopemptou, it is stated that according to the MARPOL 73/78 Convention, when a ship arrives at a port, it must deliver its waste to a place specially designed for this purpose. Therefore, ports should provide reception facilities (PRF) for liquid and solid waste from ships. Such facilities should be sufficient to meet the needs of the ships using them without causing undue delay and to prevent pollution of ports and the marine environment in general.
For the collection of ship/boat waste, a company has been licensed to collect petroleum residues, cargo residues, solid sewage and household waste.
Replying to another part of Theopemptou's question, the Minister of Transport said that in 2023 several inspections have been carried out by the Cyprus Ports Authority (CPA) in all port areas.
Specifically, inspections have been carried out both in facilities that have been granted a space use permit by CPA, as well as in ships/vessels that dock in port areas. It is noted that several of the inspections have been carried out in cooperation with officers of the Department of Fisheries and Marine Research (DFMR) and the Deputy Ministry of Shipping.
According to the answer, regular inspections are carried out in the following cases:
• Vessels that remain at anchorage for long periods of time.
• Vessels offering services in maritime port areas.
• Vessels engaged in coastal cruises.
