Chapter 6 CONTROL OF SHIP GENERATED SEWAGE AND GARBAGE IN PORTS ‘The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, 1972, observed that, “the capacity of the sea to assimilate wastes and render them harmless and its ability to regenerate natural resources are not unlimited”. Yet, ports are polluted to a considerable extent by the sewage and garbage from ships. Illegal discharge of sewage and garbage into the port waters was reported in many. ports in India in the recent past. There was a petition filed before the High Court of Kerala for restricting the dumping of sewage and garbage from the visiting vessels in the Cochin Port area and public places’. Under the international law, the discharge of sewage and garbage into port area is strictly prohibited, albeit, restricted discharge is permitted only beyond the territorial limits. Stil, illegal discharging during routine vessel operations is quite common in India, The vessels calling at ports may illegally discharge into oceans plastic fishing gears and worn out nets, fishing pots and strapping bands from bait boxes, plastic containers and untreated sewage from their toilets and kitchen’. A UNESCO study quotes the United States Coast Guards? that almost 52% of the USS waters are polluted by marine plastics dumped from recreational and fishing ea against Dumping of Wastes from Ships”, ndtv reported on s® December 2011, See, www.ndtv.com.htm, last visited in November 2013 Scha B. Sheavly, “Marine Debris- an Overview of a Critical Issue for Our Oceans” Sixth Meeting of the UN Open Ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans & Law of the Sea, 2005, See, http:/www.un.org/depts/los/consultative_process/documents} 6_sheavly.pdf, last visited in November 2013, Hereinafter to be referred to as the USCG