The Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA) has granted Servicios Generales del Estrecho S.L. the license for the provision of the port service for receiving waste generated by ships regulated by Annexes IV and V of the MARPOL Convention. The decision of the Board of Directors, adopted in the session of June 19, 2026, was made public this Wednesday in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and enables the company to operate for six years in the service area of the ports managed by the Port Authority.
The scope of the license covers the entire service area of the Port of Algeciras and the Port of Tarifa, the two facilities managed by the APBA. The six-year term is counted from the moment of granting, according to the BOE-B-2026-24881 provision published in bulletin number 177.
The agreement has been adopted under articles 30.5.s) and 26.1.l) of the Consolidated Text of the Law on State Ports and Merchant Marine, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2011, of September 5. These provisions assign to the Board of Directors of each port authority the competence to grant licenses for the provision of port services within its scope. The publication in the BOE responds to the obligation to publicize these agreements, included in article 115.3 of the same regulation.
The International Convention for the prevention of pollution from ships, known as MARPOL and developed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), regulates the discharge and management of waste generated on board ships. Annex IV establishes the applicable standards for polluted waters, that is, wastewater from toilets, sinks, infirmaries, and spaces with live animals. Annex V addresses the garbage generated by ships during their operation, which includes plastics, food waste, paper, rags, glass, metal, incinerator ashes, and operational waste associated with cargo. Both annexes limit or prohibit dumping these flows at sea and require ships to deliver them to designated port reception facilities.
