BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: André Kegels, Kegels Advocaten
in the implementation of Directive 2008/98 EC on waste (the “Waste Directive”); and • the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sedi - ments 2004 (the “Ballast Water Management Con - vention”), which entered into force in Belgium on 8 September 2017. EU Emission Trading System The EU Emission Trading System (EU-ETS) has applied to shipping from 2024. This is the result of the drastically extended scope for shipping of the flag-neutral and route-based EU-ETS legislation (Directive 2003/87/EC, last amended by Directive (EU) 2023/959) and its implementing regulations, such as EU MRV-Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2015/757 on the monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transport, as amended in 2023). Central to this regulation is the requirement for a monitoring plan, evaluation by an external veri - fication entity and approval by the relevant authority. The recent changes include not only the expanded range of greenhouse gases now covered under the MRV Regulation but also the specifications regarding the types and sizes of vessels required to report emis - sions and the routes on which it applies or will apply. The emissions to be reported on will be phased in, starting with 40% of emissions in 2024 and reaching 100% of emissions in 2028. Wreck Removal The law on wreck removal is extraordinarily compli - cated. The legislation applicable to an incident requir - ing wreck removal is dependent on: • its location – Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), ter - ritorial waters or internal waters; • the type of craft – sea-going vessel, barge or estu - ary vessel; and • the date of the incident. At present, this difference in applicable rules deter - mines the following: • if the authorities may impose a demand for wreck removal; • if the liability of the authorities is a defence;
• if the ship-owner may refuse to execute the order to remove the wreck; • if the ship-owner may limit their responsibility for wreck removal; and • which thresholds apply if responsibility can be limited. Wreck removal of sea-going vessels in Belgian national waters In Belgian national waters (territorial sea and other sea waters), wreck removal is mainly covered by federal legislation. “Mainly” because there is some question as to the authority over the main waterways to the Flemish ports. The 2007 Nairobi Convention on wreck removal and the NBMC apply. The owner of the wreck (a definition that includes the owner, charterer or operator) must remove the wreck and its contents. This is a fundamental change in stat - ute law since the NBMC came into force on 1 Sep - tember 2020. Prior to the NBMC, the Belgian Supreme Court ruled that, once a wreck removal fund has been set up for a sea-going vessel, the authorities are no longer entitled to demand that the owner, charterer or operator remove the wreck at the owner’s expense. That principle has now been abandoned under the NBMC, as far as sea-going vessels are concerned. The authorities have a direct right of action against the hull or liability (P&I) insurers, which shall not be released from their obligations under the insurance contracts until the claims of the competent authority are satisfied. Wreck removal of sea-going vessels in Belgian interior waters – regional legislation In 2022, the regional authorities adapted their legisla - tion, to bring it in line with the federal legislation. There are some relevant differences, but such nuances are beyond the scope of this guide. Wreck removal of interior barges (and limitation of liability) Interior barges can limit liability, either by application of the Strasbourg Convention of 2012 on the Limita -
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