1. MARPOL Annex I Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Oil
an introduction to the international regulations for the prevention of pollution by oil
Image courtesy of Dampskibsselskabet NORDEN AS
Tim Wilkins
Regional Manager Asia-Pacific
Environmental Manager

2. MARPOL Annex I Regulations and Chapters Fundamentals Operation
Construction

3. 1. MARPOL Torrey Canyon 1967 1959 US built, 60,000 dwt, , Li. flagged
Jumboised to 120,000 dwt
Cargo 120,000 ts of BP oil for Milford Haven
Navigational error caused grounding ripping open 6 tanks
31,000,000 gallons of oil leaked
Oil spread along the sea between England and France

4. 1. MARPOL
Amoco Cadiz 1978
1974 built Amoco Cadiz carrying 227,000 tonnes of crude oil
ran aground off the coast of Brittany, France at 10:00 p.m. on March 16, 1978
The whole cargo spilled out as the breakers spilt the vessel in two, progressively polluting 360 km of shoreline
At the time this was the largest oil spill by tanker ever registered.

5. 1. MARPOL
The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL)
as amended by the 1978 Protocol (MARPOL 73/78)
Just Oil…
1954 OILPOL Convention
Operational
Discharge zones (50nm and 100ppm)
Reception facilities

6. 1. MARPOL Not just Oil… MARPOL Annexes I – VI
Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Oil
Regulations for the Control of Pollution by Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk
Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Harmful Substances Carried by Sea in Packaged Form
Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Sewage from Ships
Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships
Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships

7. 1. MARPOL MARPOL Implementation 1967 Torrey Canyon
Amoco Cadiz et al.
MARPOL ’73 and the Protocol ‘78
MARPOL enters into force October 1983
Annex I and II
Annex III – 1992
Annex V – 1988
Annex IV – 2003
Annex VI

8. 2. Annex I regulations and chapters
39 regulations in 7 chapters to regulate oil pollution from ships (not just tankers):
Ship/Tanker design
Ship/Tanker operation

9. 2. Annex I regulations and chapters
39 regulations in 7 chapters to regulate oil pollution from ships (not just tankers):
Chapter
Regulations 1
1-5 General: Definitions and applications 2
6-11 Surveys and certification: Flag administration and Port State Control (PSC) 3
Machinery space: Construction, discharge control and equipment (all ship types) 4
Cargo areas: Construction, discharge control and equipment (oil tankers) 5
37 Shipboard oil pollution emergency plan (SOPEP) 6
38 Reception facilities 7
39 FPSOs and FSUs

10. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Operation
Discharge of oil at sea (1):
all discharges of oil are prohibited unless certain criteria are satisfied
Machinery space (bilge and sludge)
All ship types
Machinery space
Bilge waste: oily water from the bilges
Sludge: waste residue from the filtration of fuel oil
Ship must be en route
Oily mixture must have been processed through the oil filtering equipment
Oil content of the mixture does not exceed 15 parts per million (ppm)
Oily mixture is not mixed with cargo residues (see later)

11. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Operation
Discharge of oil at sea (2):
all discharges of oil are prohibited unless certain criteria are satisfied
Cargo space (slops)
Oil tankers
Must be more than 50nm from nearest land (also defined)
30 litres per nautical mile
Discharged through the Oil Discharge Monitoring Equipment (ODME)
Maximum discharge quantity on a ballast voyage should not exceed 1/30,000 of the total quantity of the particular cargo of which the residue formed a part

12. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Operation
Discharge of oil at sea (3):
all discharges of oil are prohibited unless certain criteria are satisfied
Oil discharge monitoring and control systems (tankers)
Regulations 31 & 32
Oil filter equipment (all ship types)
Regulation 14
Oil Discharge Monitoring Equipment (ODME)
Oily Water Separators (OWS)
Extensive review of requirements underway at IMO

13. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Operation
Special Areas (1):
All the previous discharge criteria regulates outside a Special Area
Regulation 1 - “A Special Area is a sea area where for recognized technical reasons in relation to oceanographic and ecological condition and to the particular character of its traffic…special mandatory methods for the prevention of sea pollution by [oil] is required.”
And as such there shall be NO discharge whatsoever of cargo residues/slops from oil tankers

14. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Operation
Special Areas (2):
those listed in Annex I:
Baltic Sea
Black Sea
Red Sea not in effect
Mediterranean Sea
Gulf of Aden not in effect
Antarctic
Gulfs area Aug 2008
Northwest European waters 1999
Southern South African waters Aug 2008
Oman area of the Arabian Sea not in effect

15. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Operation
Reception facilities:
Regulation 38
Oil loading terminals, repair ports and ports in which ships have oily residues to discharge
Port state obligation
Alleged inadequacies

16. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Construction
Tank (ship) construction:
How many hulls…

17. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Construction
Tank (ship) construction:
Exxon Valdez 1989
OPA 90
U.S phase-out from 1995 to 2010 (except for tankers with double bottoms (db) or double sides (ds), tankers less than 5,000 gross tons and tankers that call at LOOP or Designated Lightering Areas)
IMO amendments to MARPOL 73/78 (adopted 3/1992, entry into force 7/1993)
Newbuildings to be double-hulls
Single-hulls to be sbt/pl or hbl from 25 years with phase-out at 30 years old or by 2015

18. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Construction
Tank (ship) construction:
Erika 1999
IMO amendments to MARPOL 73/78 (adopted 4/2001, entry into force 9/2002)
Category 1 phase-out up to 2007
Categories 2&3 phase-out at 26 years up to 2015
BUT
Flag state may allow newer single-hulls to continue to 25 years (subject to CAS)
HOWEVER
Port state can deny such extended single-hull tankers from entering its ports

19. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Construction
Tank (ship) construction:
Oil Tanker Categorization
Category 1 pre-MARPOL (pre-1982)
Category 2 MARPOL (post-1982)
Category 3 smaller tankers (5,000-20,000/30,000dwt)

20. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Construction
Tank (ship) construction:
Prestige 2001
EU Regulation 1726/2003 (entry into force 21/10/2003)
Category 1 phase-out up to 2005
Categories 2&3 phase-out up to 2010
No Heavy Grade Oils (HGO) in single-hulls from 21/10/2003
CAS from 2005 for all Categories 2&3 over 15 years old
IMO amendments to MARPOL 73/78 (adopted 12/2003, entry into force 5/4/2005)
13G
CAS required for Categories 2&3 over 15 years old

21. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Construction
Tank (ship) construction:
Prestige 2001
BUT
Flag state may extend Categories 2&3 up to 2015 or 25th anniversary (whichever earlier)
Flag state may extend Categories 2&3 with db or ds which may trade up to 25th anniversary of delivery (even past 2015)
HOWEVER
Port state may deny entry of either such flag-state-extended tankers
13H - Double hull required from 5/4/05 for Heavy Grade Oil as cargo for tankers 5,000 dwt and above, and for tankers 600-4,999 dwt (except single-hulls built with db and ds) from anniversary date in 2008

22. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Construction
Tank (ship) construction:
Prestige 2001
BUT
Flag state may allow single-hull 5,000 dwt and above with db or ds to continue with HGO up to 25th anniversary (even beyond 2015)
Flag state may allow single-hull 5,000 dwt and above to continue with HGO between 900 and 945 kg/cubic meter until 25th anniversary or 2015 whichever is earlier, subject to CAS
Flag state may allow single-hull 600-4,999 dwt to continue with HGO until 25th anniversary or 2015 whichever is earlier
HOWEVER
Port state may deny entry of any of the above mentioned flag-state-extended tankers carrying HGO

23. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Construction
Tank (ship) construction:

24. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Construction
Tank (ship) construction:

25. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Construction
Tank (ship) construction:

26. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Construction
Tank (ship) construction:

27. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Miscellaneous
Other key elements to MARPOL Annex I:
SOPEP
Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan
Certification
International Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate (IOPPC)
Surveys
Special Surveys (Enhanced Special Survey)
Condition Assessment Scheme (CAS)
CAS (Applies to oil tankers of 5,000 dwt and above)
CAS will be performed at intervals of up to 5 years and 6 months
First CAS to be undertaken at first renewal (ie special) survey or intermediate survey after 5/4/05 of every tanker which has reached its fifteenth year
CAS is to be harmonised with ESP

28. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Miscellaneous
Other key elements to MARPOL Annex I:
Oil Record Book (ORB)
Regulation 17 and Appendix III
Part 1: Machinery space operations
Part 2: Cargo space operations
Crude Oil Washing (COW)
Fuel tank protection – all ships 2010
Pump room protection – double bottom in tankers after 1/1/2007
Oil outflow performance in case of accident – collision or grounding

29. 2. Annex I fundamentals; Miscellaneous
Other key elements to MARPOL\Annex I:
FPSOs/FSUs
FPSOs and FSUs are not oil tankers and are not to be used for the transport of oil except that, with the specific agreement by the flag and relevant coastal States on a voyage basis,
Conversion of an oil tanker to an FPSO or FSU or vice versa should not be construed as a major conversion as defined in regulation 1(8)
There are five categories of discharges that may be associated with the operation of an FPSO or FSU:
machinery space drainage;
offshore processing drainage;
production water discharge;
displacement water discharge; and
contaminated seawater from operational purposes such as produced oil tank cleaning water, produced oil tank hydrostatic testing water, water from ballasting of produced oil tank to carry out inspection by rafting.