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The Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure General Directorate for Maritime Affairs requires information to be provided about types of fuel to be used by ships coming to the country’s territorial waters and ports, and ships transiting the Turkish Straits.
The sulfur content of the fuel used in ships worldwide has been limited to 0.5% as of 1 January 2020 within the scope of Annex VI of International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). This limitation also applies to all ships sailing in Turkish waters.
In addition, the "Regulation on the Reduction of Sulfur Rate in Some Fuel Oil Types" is in force in Turkey, and the use of marine fuels of which sulfur amount exceeds 0.1% by mass is prohibited for ships bound or anchored for more than 2 hours in inland waters and in the administrative areas authorized by Port Authorities within the scope of Article 7 of the Regulation. The said article 7 is not applied in cases where the inland water vehicles with valid certificates are located at sea and when the machines of the ships at the dock are not working and powered by land.
Exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubber) will be considered as equivalent application within the scope of Rule 4 of MARPOL Annex VI, instead of using suitable fuel, in order to comply with the said sulfur limits. The exhaust gas cleaning systems in question are equipped on the ships according to the issues specified in the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) decision numbered MEPC 259(68) and certified by the Administration or authorized class organizations.
In this context, there is certain criteria related to the standard of the washing water to be discharged to the sea, and these devices are approved by checking these criteria. In Turkey, there are not any restrictions or prohibitions regarding the discharge of scrubber washing waters into the sea and scrubber types and these issues are within the scope of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization.
It is, however, forbidden to discharge wastes/sludge generated during the treatment of exhaust washing water and collected in the tank into the sea within the framework of IMO's decision numbered MEPC 259(68) and burn them on board, and these wastes must be recorded in the exhaust gas cleaning system (EGC) registry by giving them to appropriate land facilities against receipt. Separate 1 cubic meter tanks (IBC Tank) are provided to the coastal facilities for the collection of washing water wastes/mud. When there is a notification of high amount of waste from ships, the issue is reported to the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and to the Provincial Directorates of Environment and Urbanization, and waste receipt ship operators revise their ships so that they can receive these wastes as soon as possible. Waste generated in the scrubber system and the waste in the ship's sludge tank are given separately without being mixed and specified in the waste transfer form. The fee is determined for the purchase of such wastes not covered by the "Communiqué on the Fees and Principles to be Applied in the Framework of Waste Collection and Control of Wastes from Ships" and ,in case of disagreement, determined by the relevant Governorship (Provincial Directorate of Environment and Urbanization).
For further details, and information about operations in Turkey, contact GAC Turkey at [email protected]