Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
tank. 49 The Annex also established a discharge standard which every ship must
follow. 50
Annex-V deals with marine pollution by garbage from ships. This Annex
generally prohibits the discharge of garbage into the sea, with some exceptions; it
completely bans the dumping of all forms of plastic in the sea except under certain
circumstances, such as necessity for security of the ship, saving life or the acciden-
tal loss of garbage resulting from damage to the ships. 51
These Annexes also introduced a certification and survey system. Of these, the
most important are: the International Swage Pollution Prevention Certificate; Gar-
bage Management Plan; and Garbage Record Book. Additionally, they also obli-
gate parties to the Convention to ensure there are reception facilities for different
purposes, including: reception facilities for sewage in ports of some areas where the
port state requires ships to follow discharge standard of the Annex 52 ; and reception
facilities for garbage in all ports handling national and international trade. 53
3.4 Air Pollution
IMO started working on shipping based air pollution in the late 1980s. In 1997,
member States of IMO adopted a new annex, Annex-VI, to the MARPOL 73/78
Convention for the prevention of shipping based air pollution. This Annex entered
into force on 19 May 2005. 54
Annex-VI of the MARPOL 73/78 Convention failed to satisfy many countries
due to its less-stringent provisions. It imposes a global cap of 4.5 % sulphur in
marine fuels. 55 Although the global average of sulphur level in marine fuels is
significantly less than 4.5 % the agreement on a more stringent cap could not be
achieved due to the pressure from the oil industry and oil exporting countries. 56 The
49 MARPOL 73/78, Annex IV, reg. 9.
50 ... the discharge of sewage into the sea is prohibited, except when: the ship is discharging
comminuted and disinfected sewage ... at a distance of more than 3 nautical miles from the nearest
land, or sewage which is not comminuted or disinfected, at a distance of more than 12 nautical
miles from the nearest land, provided that, in any case, the sewage that has been stored in holding
tanks, or sewage originating from spaces containing living animals, shall not be discharged
instantaneously but at a moderate rate when the ship is en route and proceeding at not less than
4 knots ... or ... the ship has in operation an approved sewage treatment plant.” MARPOL 73/78,
Annex IV, reg. 11.
51
MARPOL73/78, Annex V, Regulation regulations 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. See generally, Manheim
Jr. ( 1988 ), Bean ( 1987 ), Lentz ( 1987 ), and Hagen ( 1990 ).
52 MARPOL73/78, Annex IV, reg. 12.
53 MARPOL73/78, Annex V, reg. 8.
54 See generally, Lin and Lin ( 2006 ).
55 MARPOL73/78, Annex VI, reg. 14(1).
56 Tan ( 2006 ), p. 159.
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