Spain is a member of the European Union, Directive(EU) 2016/802 therefore applies and a maximum of 0.10% sulphur fuel is to be used in port. As Spanish waters are outside of the Emission Control Areas defined under MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 14 (and the EU Directive) a fuel sulphur limit of 0.50% applies to vessels outside of ports from 1 January 2020.

Ports of Valencia, Sagunto and Gandía, managed by the Port Authority of Valencia

See Resolution of the Director General (english translation) and Resolucion Del Director General (original spanish version), which in effect prohibits discharges from open loop scrubbers in the service areas managed by the Port Authority of Valencia; namely Valencia, Sagunto and Gandia.

Closed loop scrubbers can be used in zero discharge mode only.

The Resolution does allow for use of open loop scrubbers subject to Port Authority technician authorization “as long as EACH AND EVERY ONE of the following requirements are met”.

• Electronic submission of an authorization request at least one week in advance of the ship’s arrival date with the following information:
• Vessel name and IMO number
• Description of the scrubber system and its certification
• Analysis of the discharge within the previous 3 months (turbidity, pH, nitrate, PAH and other substances – a table of limit values for a number of substances including PAH, metals and BTEX is included).

It should be noted the additional substances are not required to be analysed under the 2021 EGCS Guidelines but are listed in Spain’s Royal Decree 817/2015 Of 11 September – establishing the criteria for monitoring and evaluating the state of surface water and environmental quality standards, which are broadly similar to European Union Environmental Quality Standards for surface waters. The Port Authority has chosen to apply the substance concentration limits in the Decree to point discharges from EGCS, whereas the limits are actually annual average values for the surface of a body of water i.e. after discharges after been subject to distribution and any longer term actions leading to degradation or accumulation of the substances.

In addition to the foregoing requirements, during the vessel’s port stay, the volume, time, duration and GPS location of discharges are requested, along with a written committment that a washwater monitoring report (WMR), which includes these data and continuous monitoring records of pH, PAH, turbidity and nitrates, will be provided by the ship within 30 days of departure. (Note nitrates are not continuously monitored so it is not clear how this requirement would be satisfied.)

If, once the WMR is received, non-compliance with the established parameters is detected, the Port Authority may initiate the corresponding sanctioning procedure.

The resolution contains port maps for references and while the document appears not to be publicly available online (or at least not easily discoverable), it does give the following website address: https://valenciaportse.gob.es/SedeElectronica/

Further port information can also be found at https://www.valenciaport.com/en/ports/valencia/the-port/

Other Spanish Ports

It is advisable to check with Harbour Masters and Port Authorities as there are indications that open loop discharges are either prohibited or restricted at other Spanish ports including Algeciras, Cartagena, Huelva, Bilbao and Cadiz.

EGCSA would welcome any supporting documentation.

Portugal is a member of the European Union, Directive(EU) 2016/802 therefore applies and a maximum of 0.10% sulphur fuel is to be used in port. Portugal’s territorial waters outside of ports are not in an Emission Control Area as defined under MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 14 and therefore the limit of 0.50% sulphur fuel applies.

The national legal instrument enacting these requirements is Ministry of the Environment, Decree-Law no. 170-B / 2014, of 7 November, which is available in the Portuguese language at Portugal’s Directorate-General for Natural Resources, Safety and Maritime Services (DGRM) website (click here)

Background information on the sulphur in fuel limits and an overview of enacting regulation are also available in English at this DGRM website page (click here)

Portuguese ports

While Article 4C of Decree-Law no. 170-B / 2014, of 7 November allows for the use of EGCS as an alternative method of compliance provided that sulfur dioxide emissions are reduced to at least that achieved by the sulphur in fuel limits, DGRM has advised EGCSA that Decree law n.º 226-A/2007 of 31st of May on the use of water resources prohibits any kind of discharge into surface waters, groundwater and on the lands included in the water resources.

EGCS discharges are therefore not permitted within Portuguese port jurisdictions and open loop systems cannot be operated. Closed loop scrubbing is permitted if wash water is stored on board or discharged at port reception facilities.

 “The rules referred to [below] are issued by Ports, which are autonomous authorities under dependence of Ministry of Infrastructures and Housing. They are not, in any way, subject to DGRM, which is allocated to Ministry of Sea. The exception is Decree-law n.º 226-A/2007 of 31^st of May (Use of Water Resources Regimen), which derives from general national law.

This is to say that you can reference our response as a national position, prohibition to discharge, but ports rules should be considered, so as the previous consultation of the port, prior to berthing.”

• Port of Lisbon:
  • Regulamento de Autoridade Portuáriada APL –Administração do Porto de Lisboa, S.A.
• Port of Leixões:
  • Edital da Capitania do Porto de Leixões (Notice of the Captaincy of the Port of Leixões) – see CAPÍTULO V
• Port of Sines:
  • Regulamento de Exploração, Ambiente e Segurança do Porto de Sines
• Port of Figueira da Foz:
  • Normas Segurança da Maritima Portuaria

It should be noted that there does not appear to be any explicit reference to EGCS discharges in the port regulation documents cited above.