Waste – Ship Generated Waste – Port Reception

Key Legislation:

For more detail on the Legislation relevant to this page, please use the following links:
Supporting Legislation:
Guidance:
Vessel Requirements: No specific consent is required by vessels, however under the Port Waste Reception Facility Regulations 2003, ships are required to:

  1. Provide notification, before entry into a port, of the waste they will discharge, including information on the type and quantity.
  2. Deliver their waste to port reception facilities before leaving port, unless they have sufficient storage capacity.
  3. Pay a mandatory charge to significantly contribute to the cost of port reception facilities for ship generated waste whether they use them or not. Exemption may be granted as per Marine Guidance Note 387 (PDF document) (replacing MGN 259) where ships are engaged in “Scheduled traffic with frequent and regular port calls” and give evidence “of an arrangement ensuring the delivery of waste and payment of charges in a harbour or terminal along the ships route”.

Ships must also have a Garbage Management Plan. See Waste – Storage and Handling Offshore.
Port and Harbour Requirements: Ports, Harbours and some terminals are required:

  1. To have adequate waste reception facilities for ship landed waste including cargo residues, noxious liquid substances and ship generated waste (including sewage).
  2. To draw up a Waste Management Plan for approval by the MCA as per Schedule 1 of the Port Waste Reception Facilities Regulations 2003.
  3. To have a pre-notification and mandatory charging system in place.
Who to Apply to: Ports and Harbours  Port Waste Management Plans must be approved by the MCA.
When to Apply: Existing facilities must submit an updated Port Waste Management Plan within 3 years of the date on which the last Waste Management Plan (under SI 1997/3018) was submitted. New facilities should submit a Waste Management Plan within 9 months of commencing operations. Subsequent plans should be submitted within 9 months of any significant change or no later than three years after the most recent submission was approved.
Permit Conditions: N/A
Monitoring: Ships which are subject to SI 2003/1809 are open to inspection while in UK ports.
What to Report: Garbage record books should be in the form specified in Merchant Shipping Notice No. 1807 (PDF document) (replacing MSN 1720).
Who to report to: N/A
When to Report: N/A
Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Port Waste Reception Facilities) Regulations 2003: The Harbour Authority must inform the MCA in the case of a ship failing to provide notification or failing to dispose of ship-generated wastes or cargo residues in waste reception facilities. Harbour Authorities which fail to provide waste reception facilities or to prepare a Waste Management Plan will be liable to a fine or conviction on indictment to a fine.Ship masters in contravention of the regulations and ship masters are also liable to conviction.As mentioned, ships are also liable to inspection and detention in port under these regulations.
Port Waste Management Plans: Subsequent plans should be submitted within 9 months of any significant change or no later than three years after the most recent submission was approved.
Protecting and sustainably using the marine environment: Protecting the marine environment from pollution through the marine licensing system is integral to preventing people from dumping waste and other matter into the sea. A consultation is being held by Defra to get views from interested parties. Further information is available on the UK Government website.
Revision of the Provisional Categorization of Liquid Substances in Accordance with MARPOL ANNEX II and the IBC Code The IMO have released a circular in accordance with regulation 6.3 of MARPOL Annex II, replacing all previously issued circulars under this title, which covers a range of pollutants including cargo tank cleaning additives.