BTJ 5/2011 - Baltic Press

MaritimePort of Tallinn Harbours, especially Tallinn Old City Harbour and MuugaHarbour, are some of the busiest ports in the region. In our developmentplans we are taking into consideration the newest technologies and scientificknowledge for energy efficiency and environmental protection inorder to achieve sustainable development. The Sustainable DevelopmentPlans of Utilities of Port of Tallinn Harbours is dedicated to the fulfilmentof the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plans’ goals, especially to the fulfilmentof Chapter 3: “Towards a Baltic Sea with environmentally friendly maritimeactivities”. In addition to that EU directives and international suggestions forwater and wastewater (minimizing the effect on the environment also through new technology,construction of port reception facilities, etc.) are taken into account. At present Port of Tallinn ismaking preparation works to modernise port reception facilities for passenger and cruise vesselsin the Old City Harbour.Ellen Kaasik, Head of the Quality and Environmental Management Department at Port of Tallinnproper PRF. Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Rostock it, but the port authorities aren’t sure thatand Copenhagen have fallen behind, and currentlythe initiative will have the anticipated effect.are at the stage of constructing such fa-Also, ship owners might not be so fond ofcilities or have them only at one pax quay, like the new regulations, since onboard sewageSt. Petersburg. It should be noticed that Danishtreatment plants will mean the cost ofports – Helsingør, Rødby, Frederikshavn, Gedserbuying one, installing and fixing it; the new– are the best prepared for the upcoming equipment will take up valuable space with-standards, all of them having direct discharge in the ship. Not without meaning there willto a sewer system. Other ports, such as Gdynia, also be the added weight, which will accountGothenburg, Riga, Świnoujście, Trelleborg, for more fuel consumption. In addition,Turku and Ystad have room for improvement. ship operators will have to pay waste treatmentcompanies for taking care of the sewage.The sceptical point of viewBoth ports and ship owners will bow toFirst of all, ports will have to pay for the the necessity, but it’s rather hard to imagineBTJ.Container:184 x 118 / 4C .03.1 1:28 Seite 1additional infrastructure and for mending that they will behave like a Good Samaritan.Most likely they will make the ultimate consumerto bear costs. The proposed solution,the so-called ‘no special fee’ system, wherethe cost of reception, handling and disposalof ship-generated wastes, originating fromnormal operation of the ship, is includedin the harbour fee or otherwise charged tothe ship irrespective of whether wastes aredelivered or not, is in fact a cloaked charge.At present, not every Baltic pax port has implementedthe ‘no special fee’ system. Butit’s not only the problem of ports, but alsocities owning them. It is the cities who getmost of the revenues from pax traffic – hotelnights, shopping, restaurants, etc. – thusthey have a role to play in solving the sewageissue, tooIt remains unclear whether the regulationswill help or not. But if the upcominglaws are combined with other actions,most notably with establishing the TotalDaily Maximum Load (TMDL) for nutrients,indicating the highest amountof pollutants that can enter a body ofwater without exceeding the thresholdabove which negative impacts will occur,there may be a possibility that the BalticSea will once again be safe and sound. Przemysław Myszka5/2011 | Baltic Transport Journal | 23