IMO NEWS 4/2010
MEPC adopts revised MARP0L
Annex III
Revised MARPOL Annex III
The revised MARPOL Annex III
Regulations for the
prevention of pollution by
harmful substances carried
by sea in packaged
form was adopted by consensus
during the session and is
expected to enter into force
on I January 2O14 in
order for changes to the Annex
to coincide with the
next update of the mandatory
International Maritime
Dangerous Goods (IMDG)
Code, specifying that goods
should be shipped in
accordance with relevant
provisions.
Revised MARPOL Annex V text
approved
The MEPC approved, with a view
to adoption at its
next session. amendments to revise and update
MARPOL Annex V Regulations for
the prevention
of pollution by
garbage from ships, following a
comprehensive review of this
Annex.
The main changes include the
updating of
definitions; the inclusion of
a new requirement
specifying that discharge of
all garbage into the sea
is prohibited, except
as expressly provided otherwise
(the
discharges permitted in certain circumstances
include food wastes, cargo
residues and water used
for washing deck and
external surfaces containing
cleaning agents or
additives which are not harmful
to the marine
environment); expansion of the
requirements for placards and
garbage management
plans to fixed and
floating platforms engaged in
exploration and exploitation
of the sea-bed; and the
proposed addition of
discharge requirements covering
animal carcasses.
Ballast Water management
system approved
After consideration of the
reports of the thirteenth and
fourteenth meetings of the
Joint Group of Experts
on the Scientific
Aspects of Marine Environment
Protection (GESAN/P) Ballast
Water Working Group,
which met in May and
July 2010, respectively, the
MEPC granted Final Approval to
six ballast water
management systems that make
use of active
substances and Basic Approval
to three such
systems.
The MEPC also approved
circulars on the
Framework for determining when
a Basic Approval
granted to one BWMS may be
applied to another
system that uses the same
Active Substance or
Preparation and Guidance for
Administrations on the
type-approval process for
ballast water management
systems in accordance with
the GB Guidelines (for
approval of ballast water
management systems).
The MEPC reiterated the need
for countries to
ratify the International
Convention for the Control and
Management of Ships' Ballast
Water and Sediments,
2004, b achieve its entry into
force at the earliest
opportunity. To date, 27
States, with an aggregate
merchant shipping tonnage of
25.32 per cent of
the world total, have
ratified the Convention. The
Convention will enter into
force twelve months after
the date on which not
fewer than 30 States, the
combined merchant fleets of
which constitute not less
than 35 percent of the
gross tonnage of the world's
merchant shipping' have
become Parties to it.
The MEPC noted the conclusion
of the Review
Group on Ballast Water
Treatment Technologies
(BWRG) that, for ships with
ballast water capacity up
to
in 2011 , there are
sufficient technologies available to
meet the requirements
of the Convention and their
number is increasing.
Emission Control Area proposal
The MEPC approved a proposal
to designate certain
waters adjacent to coasts
of
States) and The Virgin lslands (
an ECA for the
control of emissions of nitrogen
oxide , sulphur oxide and
particulate
matter under MARPOL Annex
Vl Regulations for the
prevention of air pollution
from ships and agreed to
consider the proposal for
adoption at its next session.
Currently, there are two
designated ECAs under
Annex V| - the Baltic Sea area
and the
area _ while a third,
the North American ECA, was
adopted in March 2010,
with entry into force expected
in August 2011.
Recycling of ships
The MEPC continued its work on
developing
guidelines intended to assist
ship-recycling facilities
to commence
introducing voluntary improvements to
meet the requirements
of the Hong Kong International
Convention for the Safe and
Environmentally Sound
Recycling of Ships, which was adopted in May 2009.
It was agreed to re-establish
the intersessional
Correspondence Group on Ship
Recycling to
further develop the draft
Guidelines for safe and
environmentally sound ship
recycling, Guidelines
for the development of
the Ship Recycling Plan and
Guidelines for the
authorization of Ship Recycling
Facilities.
The Committee encouraged
Governments to
ratify the Convention,
which has been signed,
subject to ratification,
by five countries, and to review
the programme for technical assistance aimed at
supporting its early
implementation.
Annex IV special area proposal
approved
The MEPC approved draft
amendments to amend
MARPOL Annex IV Prevention of
pollution by sewage
from ships to include
the possibility of establishing
"Special Areas" for
the prevention of such pollution
and to designate The
Baltic Sea as a Special Area
under this Annex. The
amendments will be considered
for adoption at the
next session.
Revised IAPP form supplement
adopted
The MEPC adopted amendments to
MABPOL Annex
Vl Regulations on the
prevention of air pollution
form ships to amend the
Form of Supplement to the
International Air Pollution
Prevention (|APP) Certificate.
The revised form is intended
to clearly and
precisely document the
extent of a ship's compliance
with regulations 4 and 14 of
MARPOL Annex VI
regarding sulphur oxide values, or the possibility
of using equivalent
arrangements, outside or inside
an Emission Control
Area (ECA) The revised form is
expected to enter into
force on 1 February 2012buI
the Committee noted
that Member Governments have
been invited to use the
revised form of Supplement
to the |APP
Certificate at the earliest possible
opportunity.
The MEPEC also adopted revised
Guidelines for
monitoring the worldwide
average sulphur content of
residual fuel oils supplied
for use on board ships.
The MEPC considered a proposal
submitted by
a Particularly
Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA), and noted
that the overwhelming
majority of delegations that
spoke agreed with the
proposal, in principle, subject
to a review by the
Technical Group on PSSAS, which
will be convened at the
Committee's next session.
In the meantime, the
proponents were invited to
also submit their
proposals for associated protective
measures to the
Sub-Committee on Safety of
Navigation for its
consideration.
The MEPC considered the report
of the eleventh
meeting of the OPRC HNS
Technical Group, held
in the week prior to
the Committee meeting, and
approved the following
draft texts developed by the
Technical Group: the revised
Manual on oil pollution,
Section I - Prevention and the
Guidance document
on the implementation
of an incident management
system.