MARITIMEENVIRONMENTALPROTECTION-Nato.docVIP

MARITIME ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION STRATEGY FOR ENHANCING NAVAL OPERATIONS THROUGH SHIP AND EQUIPMENT DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY NATO naval ships operating in the 21st century will be expected to meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations. Special Working Group 12 (SWG/12) has a comprehensive shipboard pollution abatement program under way that will enable ships to operate environmentally compliant in the 21st century. The goal is for ships to operate worldwide with minimal potential for regulatory constraints, no inappropriate dependence on shore facilities, and no unreasonable costs imposed by environmental regulations. The basic strategy is to: Design and operate ships to minimize air emissions, waste generation, and optimize waste management, and, where required, Develop shipboard systems that will destroy or appropriately treat the wastes generated on board for effluent discharges and emissions that meet the standards of international legislation. 1.2 If wastes are unavoidable and cannot be destroyed or sufficiently treated so that overboard discharges are not considered environmentally significant, they must be retained on board for recycling or treatment ashore. Although the ultimate solution for on-board destruction has not been achieved for any shipboard wastestream, the members of SWG/12 have made considerable progress toward developing on-board capabilities for managing, treating, or processing solid wastes, oily wastes, hazardous materials, and medical wastes. They are still seeking satisfactory interim or long-term solutions for treating blackwater and graywater, but they have identified technologies with potential to treat these wastes, and development programmes are in hand. International cooperative efforts directed toward achieving environmentally sound ships are under way among NATO navies to share information and technologies, and to save time and money. As a synergistic effect these efforts may have the potenti