21st century
PLAGUE
In late 2017, the BBC broadcast its powerful
new wildlife documentary series Blue Planet
II. Viewers worldwide were enchanted by the
strange and beautiful images of sea creatures
and their underwater world – and then found
themselves recoiling in horror as the footage
revealed how discarded plastics are polluting the
marine environment.
The problem of plastic pollution in the oceans
has been building for years, but it took this
documentary, presented by Sir David Attenbor-ough,
to bring the issue to widespread public
attention. And it’s not just about unsightly
garbage; plastics are killing ocean wildlife by
getting into the food chain. The documentary
showed, for example, how ingested plastics could
be responsible for a decline in albatross num-bers;
and most memorably, filmed a dead whale
46 SUOMEN MERENKULKU J FINLANDS SJÖFART
calf which may have been
poisoned by plastic-derived
chemicals in its mother’s
milk.
Shocked into action by
Blue Planet II,
thousands of
people have
pledged since
the broadcast
to keep
plastics out
of the sea by
picking up
litter on beach-es.
In addition,
long-standing
campaigns to reduce
plastic waste have received a
boost, with new supporters
joining and businesses and
government coming on-board.
If many people are now
trying to do their bit shore-side,
what’s happening in the
shipping industry? We know
that most marine litter
originates from land-based
activities, but shipping
companies and seafarers
need to play their part in
ensuring waste from vessels
does not end up in the water – and maritime
regulators have an important role here too.
In January this year, the European Union
launched its first-ever plastics strategy, which
includes new rules on port reception facilities for
marine litter, along with promises to reduce the
administrative burden on ports, ships and
competent authorities.
The European shipowners’ body ECSA has
welcomed this ‘long-awaited’ revision of the
Ports Reception Facilities Directive. ‘ECSA fully
supports the aim of the Directive to prevent
illegal discharges of ship-generated waste and
cargo residues into the sea by encouraging
vessels to discharge all waste to shore-side
receptacles,’ said secretary general Martin
Dorsman.
Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson
also hailed the revised legislation, commenting:
‘Whilst plastic pollution generated on land quite
rightly garners a lot of attention, it is estimated
that in some areas as much as 50% of marine
litter is maritime-based. Nautilus hopes that this
revision will be effective in incentivising
shipowners and ports to take their
responsibilities seriously, therefore
facilitating seafarers in their
efforts to minimise marine
pollution’
Disposing correctly of ship-board
waste is surely the very
least that seafarers and shipping
companies can do. But the industry
can go further than this, by support-ing
projects to stem the flow of land-generated
waste reaching the sea. And
perhaps most excitingly, the skills and ingenuity
of maritime professionals can be deployed to
help reverse the problem – actually cleaning the
oceans of plastic pollution.
Over the next few pages, we will see how
individuals and companies in our industry are
making a difference, whether on a local scale or
in ambitious international projects. This is of
course just a taste of what maritime profession-als
can contribute to the effort to rid our oceans
of waste plastic, so if you would like to tell
Telegraph readers about other projects, please
write a letter to the editor via telegraph@
nautilusint.org, or at the postal address given on
page 6. •
What is the
maritime
industry doing
to help rid our
oceans of toxic
plastic waste?
In this special
feature, Sarah
Robinson
investigates...
In some areas,
as much as
50%
of marine litter is
thought to come
from maritime
sources
This picture, taken in 2017 in heavily
polluted Indonesian waters,
went viral on the internet and
helped to raise awareness of
the plastic waste problem.
IMAGE: JUSTIN HOFMAN
WWW.JUSTIN-HOFMAN.COM
/nautilusint.org
/WWW.JUSTIN-HOFMAN.COM