The Government wants to ban ships from releasing polluted water from ship scrubbers in Sweden.
The emissions don't get any better by removing them from the air and dumping them into the water, says Infrastructure Minister Andreas Carlson (KD) to TT.
Scrubbers are used to clean exhaust gases on ships so that sulphur levels in air emissions decrease. Since the requirements for the permitted sulphur content in fuel were tightened, they have become increasingly common.
With open ship scrubbers, the polluted washwater is discharged directly into the sea. That is set to change if the Government gets its way.
By closing that loophole and making it forbidden to release pollutants into the sea, you force an development that Swedish ships have already taken, says Andreas Carlson.
Most Swedish ships already have such low sulphur levels that they meet the emission requirements without scrubbers, according to the Minister.
The ban will apply to all ships that operate in Swedish territorial waters, says Andreas Carlson.
Sweden is taking the lead here and it's a way to create strong competitiveness for Swedish shipping and at the same time speed up the transformation of shipping.
The Government's proposal is now out for consultation. If it becomes a reality, emissions from open scrubbers will be banned in Swedish waters from 1 July 2025, and from all types of scrubbers from 1 January 2029.
