Fintraffic Vessel Traffic Services to join in distributing Baltic Sea Waste Fee info

Fintraffic Vessel Traffic Services has joined the efforts of the Baltic Sea Action Group in distributing information on the Baltic Sea Waste Fee to vessels.

The Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG) conceived of the Baltic Sea Waste Fee info package to advise vessels directly of how easy it is to discharge waste in ports. The purpose of the new info package is to encourage all vessels to discharge their waste into waste management systems at port facilities, thus reducing discharges from shipping into the Baltic Sea.

 “As a provider of Vessel Traffic Services, we are distributing this info package to vessels travelling in Finland’s territorial waters and in international waters in the Gulf of Finland. We are pleased to be making a contribution to help the Baltic Sea,” says Quality & Environment Manager Kati Westerlund from Fintraffic Vessel Traffic Services.

Finnish maritime operators working together to help the Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is defined in international regulations as a special area and as a particularly sensitive sea area. Therefore, there are various special regulations governing shipping in the Baltic Sea, stricter than in many other sea areas. However, under certain conditions discharges into the sea are allowed, e.g. household wastewater, treated sewage and ground food waste. Wastewater and food waste entering the sea from ships stress the Baltic Sea environment, exacerbating eutrophication and oxygen deficiency.

The Baltic Sea Waste Fee info package was created by a working group involving the BSAG, the Finnish Port Association, Shipbrokers Finland, the Finnish Shipowners’ Association, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) and Finland’s Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Transport and Communications.

Image: BSAG