site.btaParliament Adopts on First Reading Revisions to Maritime Space Act Concerning Port Fees for Ship Waste

Parliament Thursday adopted unanimously by 140 votes on first reading revisions to the Maritime Space, Inland Waterways and Ports of the Republic of Bulgaria Act concerning the port fees for handling ship waste. The revisions set the fees at levels that would not encourage the discharge of waste into the sea or rivers while covering the administrative costs and a significant part of direct operational costs.

The fee will be charges for all ships that call at a Bulgarian port or operate in it, regardless of whether they use or nor not port waste facilities, which is why this is an indirect fee.

A ship-owner may be exempted from the fee when two conditions are met: that the ship performs regular service involving frequent and regular visits to Bulgarian seaports and that the ship-owner has an agreement to deliver the waste and pay the relevant fees at a port along the ship's route.