Ministers from 15 European countries have agreed to stop ships from discharging scrubber wash water in ports and other internal waters of a northeast Atlantic area by 2027.

MAP: The 15 countries are banning scrubber wastewater in ports and other internal waters within the OSPAR Maritime Area (marked by lines of the map). OSPAR

Environmental non-profit Seas at Risk said the 2027 ban covers open-loop scrubbers. These scrubbers use seawater to wash exhaust gases and neutralise sulphur oxides before discharging the wastewater back into the ocean, often containing heavy metals and harmful hydrocarbons.  

Wash water from closed-loop scrubbers, which produces less but more concentrated waste for discharge in ports, will be banned from January 2029.

More and more ships have been complying with the IMO 2020 regulation by installing scrubbers, which allow them to continue using higher-sulphur fuels such as HSFO.

Around 3,100 ships were fitted with scrubbers when the regulation came into force in January 2020, according to DNV data.

Last year, that count had increased to around 6,000 ships, and is forecast to surpass 6,400 ships this year. Around 80% of these fittings are open-loop scrubbers, DNV data shows.

These open-loop scrubbers can have a harmful impact on sensitive marine ecosystems, especially around already polluted ports and coastal waters.

Seas at Risk called the agreement a “momentous” move that sets an example for other regional seas, but noted that the 15 countries' ministers failed to agree on extending the scrubber discharge ban across all territorial waters.

The ministers have ordered a study this year and are expected to make a final decision by 2027.

The 15 countries governing the so-called OSPAR Maritime Area in the northeast Atlantic are: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the UK.

By Nachiket Tekawade

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