The Port of Amsterdam announced that from 1 January 2025, there will be a restriction on the use of open-loop scrubbers for seagoing vessels in the port.

In order to combat water and soil pollution in the Port of Amsterdam, this restriction on the use of open-loop scrubbers will apply to ships that are berthed. There, the discharge of the washing water is most locally concentrated.

Additionally, in the case of a hybrid scrubber system, seagoing vessels must switch to closed-loop, or switch to another cleaner fuel that meets the sulfur environmental standards, such as Marine Gas Oil.

A scrubber, also known as an “exhaust gas cleaning system,” is a system in the funnel of ships that ‘washes’ exhaust gases to ensure that less sulfur is emitted into the air. After washing the exhaust gases, polluted wash water remains. Scrubbers come in different versions: closed-loop and open-loop. With closed-loop, the waste materials are collected in a waste tank. With open-loop, the polluted wash water is discharged directly into the water. This contributes to the pollution of the water and causes water and soil pollution. In addition, because of these scrubbers, ships continue to use fuel oil.

In 2023, approximately 100 seagoing vessels with open-loop scrubbers called at the Port of Amsterdam. In addition to Amsterdam, the ban is already in place in the ports of Antwerp and Hamburg, and in French and several Scandinavian ports. Most recently, Denmark banned hazardous scrubber water from being dumped into Danish waters, a restriction that will become effective on July 1, 2025.

Milembe Mateyo, Harbor Master, Port of Amsterdam, stated “With this decision, we are combatting the pollution of the marine environment. It is another step closer to a cleaner port and an acceleration in the sustainability of shipping.”