Port of Amsterdam set to ban open-loop scrubbers

The Port of Amsterdam has published a decree prohibiting seagoing vessels from using open-loop exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS) while berthed. 

PHOTO: View of the Port of Amsterdam. Getty Images

“Seagoing vessels at berth within the municipality of Amsterdam are prohibited from using an exhaust gas cleaning system,” the decree states. 

The decree is set to come into force “no earlier than 1 January 2025.”

Scrubbers or exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS) allow ships to comply with the International Maritime Organization's 0.5% sulphur cap by capturing sulphur dioxide from exhaust gases.

Open-loop scrubbers utilise seawater to clean exhaust gas as it is naturally alkaline. The seawater is pumped into the EGCS, and the resulting washwater is discharged back into the sea.

Several environmental NGOs have criticised open-loop scrubbers, arguing that they merely transfer pollution from the air to the ocean, contributing to ocean acidification.

While the EU lacks uniform legislation banning scrubber washwater discharge, many countries and ports within the union have already restricted these discharges in specific areas of their national waters.

Earlier this year, the Swedish and Danish governments banned scrubber washwater discharge from ships fitted with open-loop scrubbers from 1 July 2025.

By Manjula Nair

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