In addition to using compliant fuel to meet the 0.50% sulphur requirement that entered into force on 1 January 2020, there also exists the option to use “equivalent” compliance mechanisms in accordance with Regulation 4 of MARPOL Annex VI, one of which is the use of Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS) commonly known as Scrubbers.  

 

In this regard the ICS Secretariat maintains a list, which has been revised several times, of ports around the world that were identified as prohibiting the discharge from open loop scrubbers by ships visiting these ports. The latest version of the list is provided below.

Country	Port/Sea area	Additional information
Albania	All ports	Restricted
Australia	Ports of Sydney and Hastings	Restricted
Belgium	All ports and inland sea areas	Restricted
Belize		Restricted
Bermuda		Restricted
Brazil	All ports owned by Vale	Restricted
British Virgin Islands		Restricted
Canada	Port of St John	Restricted
	Port of Vancouver	Restricted
China	Inland River ECA’s	Restricted
	Waters of ports in Coastal ECA’s	Restricted
	Bohai Sea waters	Restricted
	Port of Hong Kong	Application to be made to Hong Kong authorities 14 days prior to a ship’s first visit to HK for exemption from using compliant fuel.
Columbia	Internal waters, territorial sea area, and the contiguous Colombian zone	Restricted
Croatia		Restricted
Egypt	Suez Canal	Restricted
Finland	Port of Sköldvik/Kilpilahti	Not allowed in harbour area
France	French territorial waters (including all ports) within three nautical miles from the nearest land	Restricted
Germany	Inland waterways	Restricted
	Canals	Restricted
	Port of Kiel	Restricted
	Port of Hamburg	Restricted
	Port of Rostock	Restricted
	River Elbe	Restricted
Ghana		Restricted
Gibraltar		Restricted
Ireland	Port of Dublin	Restricted
	Port of Waterford	Restricted
	Port of Cork	Restricted
	Port of Bantry	Restricted
	Shannon Foynes Port	Restricted
Kenya	Within port limits	Restricted
Malaysia	Within 12 nautical miles of land	Ships transiting the Malacca Strait are permitted to use EGCS unless enroute to a Malaysian port.
Mauritius	Within 12 nautical miles of land	Restricted
Mexico		Restricted
Monaco		Restricted
Montenegro		Restricted
Morocco	Port of Casablanca	Restricted
Mozambique	Port areas	Restricted
New Zealand	Auckland	Restricted
	Canterbury Region	Restricted
	Marlborough Region	Restricted
Norway	The World Heritage Fjords	Restricted
	Port of Eidfjord	Restricted
	Port of Stavanger	Restricted
Oman		Restricted
Pakistan	Port of Karachi	Restricted
	Port of Bin Qasim	Restricted
Panama	Panama Canal	Restricted
Portugal	Port of Aveiro	Restricted
	Port of Leixoes	Restricted
	Port of Lisbon	Restricted
	Port of Sines	Restricted
Qatar		Restricted
Romania	Within port limits	Restricted
Saudi Arabia		Restricted
Scotland	Port of Firth of Forth & Tay	Restricted
Singapore	Within port limits	Does not apply to ships transiting the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) without calling into the Port of Singapore.
Slovenia		Restricted
Spain	Port of Cadiz	Restricted
	Port of Bilbao	Restricted
	Port of Algeciras	Restricted
	Port of Cartegena	Restricted
	Port of Huelva	Restricted
	Port of Barcelona (at berth)	Restricted
	Canary islands ports	Restricted
	Port of Gijon	Restricted
Sweden	Port of Stenungsund	Restricted
	Port of Trellebord	Restricted
	Port of Gothenburg	Restricted
	Port of Oxelosund	Restricted
	Port of Petroport	Restricted
	Port of Stockholm	Restricted
Thailand		Restricted
Trinidad & Tobago		Restricted
Turkey		Restricted
United Arab Emirates	Port of Fujairah	Restricted
	Port of Dubai	Restricted
United Kingdom	Royal Portbury Dock	Allowed on a case-by-case basis with permission of harbour authority
	Port of Felixstowe	Restricted
	Bristol Port Company	Restricted
	Cromary Firth Port	Restricted
United States of America	Ports of Conneticut	Restricted
	Port of Seattle	Restricted
	Ports of California	Restricted
	Port Everglades	Restricted
	Ports of Hawaii	Allowed subject to certain terms in 2013 VGP
	U.S. National Marine Sanctuaries	Restricted

The above list is intended to aid ships fitted with open loop scrubbers to plan in advance accordingly. In any case, member companies of ICS Members are recommended to obtain further clarifications from relevant authorities before their ships visit these ports.  The Secretariat has been informed of hefty fines being imposed on ships that do not follow individual port requirements on this issue.  Members are therefore encouraged to advise caution to their member companies in this regard.