Port Waste Management in Thai ports

Project Name: Port Waste Management in Thai ports

Consultant Company: 

  • ASDECON Corporation CO., LTD.
  • TEAM Consulting Engineering and Management CO., LTD.

Project Location: Thailand

Project Owner: Marine Department, Thailand, granted by the government of Denmark

Project Feature: Planning

: Consultant Fee     16,000,000  Baht

Project Background :

Economic and industrial developments and increasing international trade and number of tourists in Thailand result in the increasing of water transportation.  Presently, water transportation and many ports in Thailand do not have the properly designed waste management plan.  Many ports do not have waste reception facilities and waste has been disposed into the sea.  This action is against International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from ship, 1973 and Protocol 1978 (the MARPOL 73/78 Convention) which requires that ships have to discharge their waste at the ports and ports have to prepare adequate reception facilities and equipments without causing any delay to ships.

Thailand is now a Party of the MARPOL 73/78 Convention which its regulations have come into effect on February 2008.  To comply with the regulations of the Convention, the port waste management plans should be prepared. Therefore, Bangkok port, Laem Chabang port and Maptaphut port are selected as the pilot ports in this project and their study results can be useful for other ports in Thailand as well.

Project Summary:

1. Improvement on the efficiency of Port Waste Management so that Thailand is able to comply with MARPOL 73/78. Laws and regulations relating to port waste management from many authorities are studied to compare with MARPOL 73/78 regulations.  Moreover, the existing port waste management is evaluated to find out the obstacles and, at the same time, the solutions to improve the efficiency to meet with the MARPOL 73/78 policy. Hence, the strategies, action plan, and indicators are developed in order that Marine Department can seek the best scenario in problems.

2. Improvement on capabilities of Port Waste Management in Thailand to comply with international agreement and Thai laws. Many authorities and organizations are concerned in port waste management. It is important that all staffs concerned have seen perspectives on the future directions on port waste management. Therefore, waste reception facilities are proposed and also training program for strengthening groups of staff to improve technical skills, rules of procedure, environmental laws are developed to support the framework of MARPOL 73/78 and Thai regulations.

3. Study on Laws and Regulations as well as restrictions so that suggestions of Port Waste Management Model can be developed. The suitable port waste management complying with MARPOL 73/78 of three pilot ports is carried out by applying the national and international laws including the experiences from study tour at the European ports.

4. Study on procedures and organization for port waste management. The competent authorities, both Marine Department and Port Authority, have to cooperate in drawing up waste management action plans to control, monitor, and check the discharged of waste from ships, and the operations of contractors at ports to ensure the adequacy, speed, efficiency, and environmental standard of the country.

5. Carry out on public relation of the project as well as conduct a meeting and seminar among the public sector, private sector and stakeholders of this project. It is vital to hold public relation and seminars continually among all related parties to perceive project information time after time and all movements. After seminar, most attendants understand the project objective and gain the knowledge in port waste management plan including the knowledge in MARPOL 73/78.

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