Marine pollution fines are updated annually, and our client alert published in December 2022 had set out the fines updated for 2023. In a recent interim amendment, the following two further updates were introduced.
1. Fines for “garbage and sewage discharged by vessels or any other marine vehicles”, were calculated as per the table below depending on the gross tonnage of the polluting vessel:
| Up to 1,000 (inclusive) GT | TRY 502.48 per GT |
| Between 1,000 and 5,000 (inclusive) GT | An additional TRY 100.50 per GT |
| Over 5,000 GT | An additional TRY |
With the recent amendment, the additional amount of TRY 50.23 per GT applicable for vessels exceeding 5,000 GT has been decreased to TRY 11.59 per GT. By way of example, the impact of this amendment on a fine issued to a 15,000 GT vessel is a reduction of TRY 386,400.00 which corresponds approximately to USD 20,000.00 as per the current exchange rate.
2. The amendment introduces an upper limit applicable to vessels and other marine vehicles exceeding 100,000 GT. Pursuant to this update vessels exceeding 100,000 GT shall pay the same fine as that applicable to a vessel of 100,000 GT. For example, if the polluting vessel has a gross tonnage of 120,000 GT, the pollution fine will be calculated over 100,000 GT.
We hope that our readers find the above helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact us for questions.
