Clean Ships, Clean Ports, Clean Oceans: Controlling Garbage and Plastic Wastes at Sea (1995)
Chapter: 5 Integrating Vessel and Shoreside Garbage Management
5
Integrating Vessel and Shoreside Garbage Management
The preceding chapter addresses only part of a national Annex V implementation program—the part that applies to fleets. In addition to establishing performance standards for vessels, Annex V also mandates the provision of "adequate" garbage reception facilities at ports. Yet the crucial port side segment of the garbage management scheme conceived in Annex V is left undefined in the United States, with the result that compliance has been limited. If a comprehensive, effective Annex V implementation program is to be developed, then a systems perspective is needed that views vessels and their ports of call as part of the same system. Awareness of this need seems to be growing. Whereas the problem of marine debris once was viewed in isolation from broader waste management issues, there has been a trend over the past several years toward a more comprehensive systems-oriented perspective (Laska, 1994).
The vessel garbage management system has two elements: the vessel and the port, which is the transfer point to the landside solid waste management system. In general, vessels operate within and receive services from specific types of terminals. Just as vessels differ, so do terminals. Recreational boats use marinas, private docks, and launch ramps, while fishing vessels use fishing piers and terminals. General cargo vessels call at public ports (sometimes maintaining specified ports of call), while bulk vessels use private terminals and may operate only from selected home ports. All the materials delivered to and removed from the vessel must pass through the terminal's facilities.
As vessels become more specialized and diverse, so must terminals and the facilities they provide. Both vessels and terminals are costly to develop, build, and operate. Yet it is even more costly for a port to lose business to a competitor
