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.
The European framework applicable to the reception of waste generated by ships is set by Directive (EU) 2019/883, which replaced Directive 2000/59/EC and was transposed into Spanish law through Royal Decree 601/2022. The European rule requires Union ports to have adequate port reception facilities, to draw up and implement a waste reception and handling plan, and to establish a cost recovery system that encourages delivery on land over dumping at sea. The effective provision of the service, in the case of Spanish ports of general interest, is articulated through licenses like the one now granted by the APBA.
Ports of general interest must have these reception services, provided on a competitive basis by private operators under a license from the port authority. The Ports Law establishes the collection of waste generated by ships as a basic port service, necessary for the ordinary operation of commercial calls: any ship docking in a Spanish port must be able to deliver its MARPOL waste under standardized and environmentally safe conditions, without resorting to alternative facilities outside the port area. The license granted now precisely covers the waste regulated by Annexes IV and V, two of the most frequent flows in any commercial or passenger call.
The six-year authorization provides the operator with a timeframe for the operation of the service, during which they are subject to the technical, economic, and environmental conditions set by the particular specifications of the port service and the APBA's regulations. The port authority retains the power of supervision, inspection, and control over the activity provided for in the current regulations, as well as the ability to enforce compliance with the obligations assumed by the licensee. Each port authority also sets out in its specifications the economic conditions and access criteria to the service.
