ECOBILGE wins the Timón de Innovación (Innovation Helm) Award for its bilge water treatment system for recreational boats
Developed by teachers at the Nauticopesquera de Palma, the project reduces marine pollution in ports and marinas
Palma
24/11/2025- Ayudas
- Medio Ambiente
- Náutico Deportivo
The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has awarded the Timón de Innovación Prize to the ECOBILGE project, a compact system for treating bilge water on recreational boats, developed by Felipe Esteve and Javier Carbajosa, teachers at the Nauticopesquera Integrated Vocational Training Centre in Palma. The award, sponsored by the APB and organised by Gaceta Náutica, is worth €3,000 and recognises initiatives that provide practical solutions to the challenges facing the nautical sector. The 2025 edition has received 13 entries, the highest number since the award was created.
The panel, made up of representatives from the APB, the University of the Balearic Islands and Gaceta Náutica, praised the originality of the ECOBILGE system and its focus on solving a specific port problem: diffuse pollution caused by bilge water discharges. The device removes oils, hydrocarbons and micro-impurities through a sequential treatment that combines gravitational separation, coalescent filtration and selective absorption. Its compact design makes it compatible with the space and power limitations of recreational boats, without the need for structural modifications.
The system responds to a widespread problem in ports, where thousands of vessels discharge their bilges directly into the sea, contributing to the presence of oils and residues that damage ecosystems. ECOBILGE offers a practical alternative that facilitates compliance with state and regional regulations and the MARPOL Convention, also guaranteeing the capacity to bail out in the event of an emergency.
The project's instigators emphasise that the implementation of this technology in some of the more than 25,000 vessels registered in the Balearic Islands (75% of which are less than 10 metres in length) could significantly reduce pollution and improve water quality in port areas.
In this edition, the first runner-up prize was awarded to the Marinas Azules project of the Balearic Marine Cluster, which focuses on the feasibility of modular, self-sufficient desalination plants powered by renewable energy. The second runner-up prize recognised the joint initiative of IRP engineering and the University of Alicante, which proposes the creation of artificial reefs using electrolysis and brine from desalination plants.
The X Timón Awards, organised by Gaceta Náutica and sponsored by the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands, Ports IB, Redeia and D-Marin, have the collaboration of various entities in the nautical and business fields. The awards ceremony took place on 21 November at 7:30 p.m. at the Port Centre in Palma, the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands' institutional headquarters.
