New Rules in Turkey

[Joefloki]

In the European sailing community there are informations that in some regions of Turkey there are new rules in force for sailing boats:
A tank for grey water tank is required for all boats, those who have not will have to face high fines. (Not only black water !!!!! which is already compulsory since many years).
Some sailing organisations have protested already, namely UK, as this would make sailing in these areas more or less impossible.
I will report here about the outcome resp. the development.

[James S]

Well that should free up some space....
I'm actually happy about this...but then, I have a Grey water tank!

[Zanshin]

I'm not going to get too excited about this, as the international regulations are such that Turkey cannot legally enforce their grey-water regulation on foreign flagged vessels.

What they can (and do) regulate and control is where grey water may or may not be discharged, but they cannot require grey water tanks to be installed. The IMO and 1948 Conventions, under which jurisdiction Turkey falls, is quite explicit on this matter.

Just imagine if I, as legislator for the island country of Hydronia, decide that all sailing vessels clearing into my nation must have sails of a special color. This law, which carries potential confiscation of the vessel as punishment, allows for a special tape to be attached at the foot of each sail in lieu of replacing the sails. Only one kind of tape, produced by HydroCorp (which I own), is legal and costs $1000 per foot.

Avoiding such dubious laws is exactly why those international regulations exist.

Note that even the Noonsite article in this new states that foreign vessels are not checked.

[Jacques2]

In the text you can read on Noonsite, it is said something like this (for foreigners) : the grey water has to be connected to the black water tank in order to be pumped out with. You need to have a Blud Card to certify you did it. So, it is true, they don't say you need a special grey tank. But the problem is quite the same : what to do with grey waters (on small yachts) ?

[Zanshin]

Here is the noonsite link: Noonsite: Turkey: New Rules for Cruising Yachts in the Mugla Area (Bodrum to Fethiye)

Note this is just for one vacation area in Turkey, similar to what would be a national park in the USA (which has strict additional rules as well).

A quote from the blue card section :

Foreign flagged boats however will not be checked

I've Goggled around the net in 3 languages and not found a single reference to an actual Turkish site with the letter of the law, just many pages with vague references, the noonsite one isn't substantiated either; and the RYA pages just state that "details are unlikely to be forthcoming until Spring". Since most of the foreigners in that area are German I though I'd find something in German on the subject but so far it seems to be a anglophone only issue

[Jacques2]

I have red the full text. You are right : Foreign flagged boats will not be checked. It means the system in the boat will not be checked.
But, But you must have the Blue Card (with memory) onboard and this card will be checked in order to controll how many times you have pumped out in an authorized station, how long you have stayed mooring without being pumped. It is a very tricky way of control.
And last, the aera concerned is more then 1 000 kilometers of coasts.
(sorry for my english)
Jacques

[beneteau-500]

this issue is a bit miss leading at the moment i had the opportunity to have talks with the Turkish minister of tourism recently at the boat show">london boat show on this subject as i have now just signed a mooring agreement at alanya marina and the reason i have signed up was the assurances i received in the matter of grey/ black holding tanks at the moment there is only one area where they are attempting to have this done but due to the fact in there drafts for implemention of this is they dont have the facilities to do the pump outs and so forth it will be some time , it was indicated this will take up to five yrs to fully implement .
I flew out last monday to Alanya marina to have a look at this new marina and have spoken to a few live aboards there and no they have not had to have tanks fitted .

but it will come a time yes when it will be req

[Joefloki]

The text from the TRANS OCEAN website can be read (in English) here:

http://www.trans-ocean.org/news/medi...tion-rules.pdf


The protest letter from UK can be found here:

http://www.vanstraelen.de/protestschreiben.doc

[beneteau-500]

JOEFLOKI if you read that text you will see at the moment it is a pilot program at the moment only and i have been assured in writting in my marina contract as well

[Joefloki]

Originally Posted by beneteau-500

.... you will see at the moment it is a pilot program at the moment only .......

"pilot program" can mean that it is implemented in one area in the beginning for an area of about 1000km coastline and it get later implemented all over Turkey.

There is a serious concern about this matter in forum websites from Germany, Austria and UK that I read.

[Eric50]

FYI, In France, all boats (with french flag of course) must have a balck water tank from January, 1rst, this year.

The regulation is to comply with european regulation and there are more and more talks about...grey waters as well !

It sounds that, in the future, European regulation will probably enforce such equipment for grey water as well...

[swagman]

It is good to see the subject flagged, but having kept our boat in Turkey I'd not be too worried about if or indeed when this might be implemented.

I'll bet $10 with anyone you'll not see it implemented any time soon.

Sad thing is they have to even consider such a rule - and education begins at home. The greasy trails often seen behind crewed charter gullets as they move away from an overnight stop indicates to me the problem is close to home.

Cheers
JOHN

[gegroves]

I have received emails from the liveaboard group at Yat Marine in Marmaris. This issue started out with confusing information from the local officials and has not been cleared up at present. The Yat Marine management are actively participating in the discussions as they will be required to install the pump-outs (supposed they have some, but I've never seen them in five years). The recent iteration is a letter from the CA (UK Cruising Assoc) to the Misister of Tourism voicing concern about the requirements. They recommend any interested party to download the letter and send a copy.
At present, no one is concerned about the immediate future. Yes, the "official" interpretations imply that foreign flagged vessels will not have to comply with the tankage requirements, but you will have to comply with the no dumping of grey water requirement in this area of the coast. One of the big complaints is the issue that one cannot go just three miles off-shore and dump - you have to go further. The Turkish Coast Guard will not be looking for off shore dumpers, nor will they be boarding boats to look for tanks - but they could.
Bottom line is that as one poster said, it will take them a while to get it all together so don't spend any money to get ready for something that may never come about. I'm going back to Marmaris in three weeks and will post an update to this subject when I get current infor.

[JAYEN1]

Does anyone know if 'treated flow through' or 'treat and discharge' , systems are permissible (approved) in the Med.? for either black or grey water.
Regards,
John

[CarinaPDX]

It's been 4 years since I have been there, so others will be more current. I did not encounter difficulties with black water except in Turkey. They are very aggressive about enforcement there, usually by helicopter. If you are pumping out something that is not clear you are risking serious trouble. That said, once out of harbor and into the open sea it is acceptable to pump out toilets and holding tanks. I never saw a pump-out station, although that might have changed by now. With or without treatment, I would say a holding tank is necessary for using toilets in harbor. For long stays this won't work, however.

Greg