Tankers cleared to dump palm oil in British waters until 2021

CAMPAIGNERS have called for action after the maritime regulator ruled that foreign ships can continue to dump palm oil in British waters for three years. In February, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) approved regulation that will require tankers carrying palm oil and other food oils to pump the tank residue into purposebuilt disposal facilities, instead of washing it out in open water.

But the new rules will not come into force until July 1 2021, a time frame the IMO says will give states and industry time to increase capacity at shorebased oil disposal facilities.

Britain already has the infrastructure required to deal with oil residue, and experts say it should ban the dumping of food oils in British waters ahead of the 2021 deadline.

“UK ports have oily water reception faculties that were put in place to process crude oil waste,” said Paul Johnston, an honorary research fellow at the University of Exeter and principal scientist at Greenpeace’s research laboratories. “This legislation is already long overdue. Elsewhere there might be a need for specific ports to have a bit of time to catch up and install these reception facilities – but the UK, and Europe more generally, is in a position where it could implement this legislation immediately.”

In February, The Telegraph revealed that ships are regularly dumping large quantities of noxious palm oil off the coast of Britain without legal consequences. During 2016 and 2017 seven instances of palm oil contaminating British waters were documented by satellites operated by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).

Two spills in the southern part of the North Sea left oil slicks stretching for more than 44 miles, according to EMSA records. Palm oil spills have a similar impact on the marine environment as fossil fuel oils by depleting water of oxygen, killing fish, coating the wings of birds and washing up on beaches.