Maritime Waste Implementation Circular Revised

The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change has entered a new era in the tracking of ship waste. An amendment was made in the Maritime Waste Implementation Circular, and the obligation to leave their wastes to the 'waste reception facility' within 12 hours after returning to the port was increased to 48 days due to the adequacy of the waste tank volumes, especially for ships with a carrying capacity of 10 people and above, including fishing boats. In this context, an administrative fine starting from 10 thousand 32 liras will be applied to ships and fishing boats that do not leave their wastes within 855 days and do not fulfill the determined obligations, depending on the nature of the violation and the size of the vessel.

The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change rearranged the "Maritime Waste Practice" circular. In the written statement made by the Ministry, additional measures were taken to prevent the liquid and solid wastes left by the ships in the summer tourism.

By entering a new period in the follow-up of the wastes of the ships, the article that obliges the ships with a carrying capacity of 12 people or more, including passengers and personnel, to deliver their waste within 48 hours following the day they return to the port after completing their activities after leaving the port, has been changed; This period has been increased to 10 days. Since the adequacy of the waste tank volumes of the ships and fishing boats with more than 12 passengers and crews was found to be sufficient for this period, it was determined that the 48-hour-hour period was short.

“Those who do not leave their waste at the waste reception facilities within the specified day will be fined 32 thousand liras.”

In the statement made by the Environment Management General Directorate of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, “If the ships embark on another voyage within 10 days, they have to deliver their waste before the voyage. Those who do not fulfill these obligations, starting from 32 thousand 855 liras, an administrative fine increasing depending on the nature of the violation and the size of the ship; It will be implemented by the Coast Guard Command, Port Authorities and the relevant Metropolitan Municipalities.

It was stated that the entire process, from the delivery of ship wastes and cargo residues to the waste reception facility or waste receiving ships, to their disposal, can be monitored instantly and online by the Ministry and authorized institutions/organizations with the "Maritime Waste Application".

In the statement, it was stated that boat owners can now go to the nearest coastal facility and register for the system free of charge, and since the system was put into use; It was stated that coastal facilities such as marinas and fishermen's shelters monitor the wastes with 97 blue cards.

The statement also included the following statements:

"With the circular, the Ship Waste Tracking System and Blue Card System applications used for the management of wastes originating from ships were updated and combined in a single application under the name of 'Maritime Waste Application (DAU)', thus reducing bureaucracy. In addition, with the merging of the applications, the waste transfer form and blue card printing processes were abolished. The use of paper and plastic cards was also eliminated by ensuring that transactions are carried out digitally and simultaneously monitored online. In particular, the obligation to have a blue card with boat owners was removed and the records were transferred to digital media.

The entire process, from the delivery of ship wastes and cargo residues to the waste reception facility or waste receiving ships, to their disposal, can be monitored instantly and online by the Ministry and authorized institutions/organizations with the 'Maritime Waste Application'. Thus, it has become easier to prevent marine pollution that may occur from ships.

Marine vehicles that do not have any equipment to generate waste other than waste motor oil were excluded from the scope of the circular. With this, fines and victimization of marine vessels such as small fishing boats were prevented.