KOCHI: The health officer of the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) on Tuesday submitted before the Kerala High Court that all ships were having their own garbage management plan, and waste generated in them were segregated accordingly. Port health officer K A Shyamini filed the report on a petition filed by K N Unnikrishnan of Kadavantra, seeking a directive to take urgent steps to prevent dumping of sewage/toilet waste/garbage from the vessels calling at Cochin Port, in public places. According to the petitioner, being a major port, the Cochin Port is the berthing place for foreign and Indian vessels of varying types. The vessels, during the course of their long voyage, produce both garbage waste and toilet waste, which are taken out of the Port by private parties having licence issued by the Port. However, the waste collected from the ships is dumped openly in public places, and places along the port. All the cruise vessels calling at the Cochin Port have their own septic treatment plants, in which most of the effluents are treated and either discharged in outer sea or taken as ballast. The cruise vessels also have incineration plants, in which most of the noxious waste and solid sludge are incinerated and the residue is disposed of in outer sea. Waste from ships, both dry and wet, is collected and taken away by garbage collectors according to the requirement of the ships. None of the ships dumps waste on the Port premises. Waste is disposed of according to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). The report also stated that the CPT had agreed to provide 0.50 acre of land free of cost for establishing a septage treatment plant by the State Government, which was also accorded sanction by the government. “The CPT board has allotted one acre of land to the Cochin Chamber and Industry for setting up a waste disposal-cum-power conservation plant. The CPT has prepared an Environmental Monitoring and Management Plan by an agency under the Green Port Initiative.