Finland Times

The decision has been made as a part of the IMO regulations concerning the special area of the Baltic Sea, said an official press release.

All the Baltic Sea states are unanimous in support of the decision.

New ships have to comply with the regulations as from 1 June 2019, while for existing cruise ships the time limit is 1 June 2021.

Ships coming from outside the Baltic Sea special area and sailing directly to St. Petersburg have a further two-year transition period until 1 June 2023.

“The decision is highly significant in terms of the status of the Baltic Sea. I would have hoped that we could have proceeded much faster. Fortunately the ports already have the appropriate facilities to receive wastewater,” Minister of Environment Kimmo Tiilikainen said.

“Sewage from our domestic ships has been appropriately handled for a long time, and for the foreign cruise ships it should be possible for the shipping companies to put this in order more quickly than allowed by the decision,” he added.

Minister of Transport and Communications Anne Berner said that cruise ships sailing in the Baltic Sea are a very positive addition to the whole area also with regard to Finnish tourism industry.

“We must also make sure that they are not a burden to the highly vulnerable ecology of the Baltic Sea. We are really happy about the understanding now reached in the IMO,” she added.

According to the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan adopted in 2007, loads entering the Baltic Sea that cause eutrophication must be reduced in all sectors, including maritime transport.

The Baltic Sea was designated as a special area by an IMO decision in 2011, upon application by the HELCOM (The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, also known as Helsinki Commission) member states. A condition for the designation to enter into force was adequate reception facilities for sewage​​ at Baltic Sea ports visited by cruise ships.

The new regulations apply to all passenger ships with more than 12 passengers.

In practice the regulations apply to foreign cruise ships because the passenger ferries operating in Finland on a regular basis have for a long time discharged their sewage into reception facilities at ports.

The ban on the discharge of sewage will reduce the nutrient loading of the Baltic Sea caused by maritime transport.

The options available to the cruse ships are to discharge sewage into port reception facilities or to install on-board sewage treatment equipment by which the amounts of nutrients can be reduced as required by the regulations (70% for nitrogen and 80% for phosphorus) before discharging the wastewater into the sea.

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