EMEA News
Turkey Clarifies Position on Open-Loop Scrubber Discharge Ban
Turkey's government has clarified its position on the use of scrubbers in its territory, which bans the discharge of washwater from open-loop models of the emissions-cleaning technology.
Scrubber washwater discharges are banned in Turkish waters along with other pollutants, shipping services company GAC Group said in a note to customers last week, citing comments from Turkey's Ministry of Environment and Urbanization.
The position had been implied before, with insurance association Standard Club warning against the use of open-loop scrubbers in Turkey last year.
A local market source told Ship & Bunker that Turkey had been firmly against the discharge of scrubber washwater since at least November 2019. But scrubbers can still be used in Turkey for those owners with the ability to store their washwater for disposal elsewhere.
Several port authorities across the world have now banned open-loop scrubber washwater discharge in their territory on the grounds of marine environment protection. But the bans appear to have had little effect on the profitability of scrubbers so far, with orders increasing again this year as the price spread between HSFO and VLSFO widens again from last year's lows.
