OSPAR to ban scrubber discharges

Discharges from ship scrubbers will be banned in internal waters and port areas across the North-East Atlantic by 2027, with further restrictions coming into effect by 2029, following a decision by member states of the OSPAR Convention.

At a ministerial meeting in Vigo, Spain, the 15 signatory nations of the OSPAR Convention – which include major maritime states such as the UK, France, Germany, and the Netherlands – agreed to prohibit open-loop scrubber discharges by July 2027. Closed-loop scrubber discharges will follow, with a full ban by January 2029.

The scrubbers, used to remove pollutants from ship exhaust gases, often release wash water back into the sea. Environmental advocates have long raised concerns about the impact of these discharges on marine ecosystems. While many OSPAR countries had already pushed for broader bans within their 12-nautical-mile territorial waters, the group settled on internal waters and port areas as a first step, citing a lack of full consensus.

The OSPAR members confirmed their commitment to enhanced protective measures and pledged to strengthen actions to fully eliminate marine pollution from scrubber systems by 2027.

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