With a concern to contribute to prevent sea pollution by ships, HAROPA-Port du Havre becomes involved with companies to improve the quality of the collection and disposal of ship-generated waste. In 2003, the European Directive 2000/59/EU about ship waste and cargo residues reception and treatment facilities (see box below) came into force. The document strengthens the provisions laid down in MARPOL convention making it compulsory for ships to dispose of their ship waste in ports or pay a specific fee, should they wish to keep it on board to have it disposed of in another port. Showing the will to establish a strict management of ship-generated waste, HAROPA-Port du Havre has set up since 2004, a management system for waste and cargo residues via the E-Coport » system which is now integrated into the single shop SWING. The operational management of the collections was thus entrusted to private specialized companies, licensed by the port authority.
More competitive service Having the concern, today, as part of an approach of continuous improvement, to bring vessels an even more effective and competitive service tailored to their needs, HAROPA-Port du Havre has chosen to contribute to the investments by paying back into the industry of specialized waste collection the remaining part of the fee paid by the ships which do not dispose of their waste in the port. As the result of the call for projects, four local companies were selected by the GPMH to share an exceptional subsidy of € 600,000 allocated for three years:
  • SWC (Service Waste Collection) for the purchase of a 400 m3 barge dedicated to the collection of liquid ship-generated waste and storage tanks ashore;
  • Ipodec Normandie (Veolia subsidiary) for the purchase and deployment in the port of 20 mobile waste collection centres suited to the management of solid waste and construction of a dedicated sorting site;
  • Unifer for the development, purchase and deployment in the port of selective dumpsters dedicated to the management of solid waste;
  • Bataille/Gardet Bézenac for the purchase of a vehicle dedicated to the collection of liquid waste.
A tailor-made service, 24 h/24 The assistance of the Grand Port Maritime du Havre makes it possible for us, the selected companies, to get more flexibility as regards investment and better visibility for the three coming years. In addition, the invitation to tender, in its design, enables us to specialize and develop tailor-made services. Today the port of Le Havre is thus in a position to meet any requirement as regards waste collection, 24h/7d, especially owing to the setting-up of nautical means for the collection of liquid waste and mobile waste centres for solid waste ». Laurent Gallien, SWC General Manager, SARPINDUSTRIES Group. A waste reception scheme: what for? The obligation of drawing up a scheme of reception and treatment of ship-generated waste and cargo residues comes from the European directive 2000/59/EC of 27 November 2000. Its objective is the prevention of pollutions at sea by vessels improving the availability and use of waste reception systems in ports. The regulations especially make it compulsory for seaports:
  • to provide users with waste reception facilities suited for the kind and volume of waste generally generated by port users,
  • to set up a scheme of reception and treatment of ship-generated waste and cargo residues compliant with the standard scheme defining the conditions of ship waste declaration reception, the organisation of the control by the port authority (the Harbour Master’s Office in French ports) and the provisions laid down to allow the deposit ashore and the treatment of various categories of solid and liquid waste generated by vessels.