International Regulations

MARPOL Compliance

• The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes, and its six annexes cover oil, noxious liquid substances, harmful substances in packaged form, sewage, garbage, and air pollution.
• Key Regulations:

MARPOL Annex I – Prevention of Pollution by Oil

Chapter	Regulations	Content
1	1-5	General, Definitions, Application
2	6-11	Inspections and Certification. Administration and Port State Control (PSC)
3	12-17	Machinery Spaces. Construction, Bilge Control, and Equipment (All Ships)
4	18-36	Cargo Areas. Construction, Bilge Control, and Equipment (Oil Tankers)
5	37	Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (SOPEP)
6	38	Reception Facilities
7	39	Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) and Floating Storage Units (FSU)

MARPOL Annex II – Prevention of Pollution by Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk

• Measures for controlling harmful substances carried in bulk.
• 250 substances were identified.
• Under certain circumstances, it is prohibited to discharge residues of harmful substances within 12 nautical miles from the shore.

Chapter	Regulation	Content
1	1-5	General Information
2	6	Categorization of Noxious Liquid Substances
3	7-10	Inspections and Certification
4	11-12	Construction, Design, Arrangements, and Equipment
5	13-15	Operational Discharges of Noxious Liquid Substances
6	16	Control Measures by Port States
7	17	Prevention of Pollution in Case of an Incident
8	18	Reception Facilities and Arrangements at Discharge Terminals

Annex III – Prevention of pollution by harmful substances packaged and transported by sea.

Requirements for standards on packing, marking, documentation, storage, and volume limitations of harmful substances transported by sea.

• Reg 1) Application

In this Annex, “harmful substances” are defined as those substances identified as marine pollutants in the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code, or that meet the criteria in the appendix to this Annex.

Annex IV – Prevention of pollution from sewage from ships

Discharges directly into the sea less than 3 nautical miles from land are prohibited unless the ship has a treatment system:

• If the discharge is comminuted and disinfected with an approved system, it can be released 3 nautical miles from land.
• If it is not comminuted and disinfected, the requirement is at least 12 nautical miles from land.

Captital	Regulation	Capital
1	1-3	General Information
2	4-8	Inspections and Certification
3	9-11	Equipment and Discharge Control
4	12	Reception Facilities
5	13	Port State Control

Ballast Water Management Convention (BWM Convention)

• The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention) was adopted by consensus at a Diplomatic Conference held at IMO Headquarters in London on 13 February 2004. The BWM Convention entered into force on 8 September 2017. 
• The Convention requires all ships to implement a Ballast Water Management Plan. All ships have to carry a Ballast Water Record Book and are required to carry out ballast water management procedures to a given standard. Parties to the Convention are given the option to take additional measures which are subject to criteria set out in the Convention and to IMO guidelines.

• Annex Provisions:

  • General Provisions (Section A): Defines terms, applications, and exemptions.
  • Management and Control (Section B): Details the requirements for ballast water management plans, record books, and specific management practices.
  • Standards (Section D): Includes ballast water exchange and performance standards to ensure environmental protection.
  • Survey and Certification (Section E): Outlines requirements for surveys and certification, including forms for certificates and record books.

• Key Regulations:

  • Ballast Water Exchange Standard (D-1): Requires 95% volumetric exchange efficiency.
  • Ballast Water Performance Standard (D-2): Specifies limits on viable organisms and indicator microbes in discharged ballast water.
  • Approval Requirements (D-3): Details the approval process for ballast water management systems, including those using chemicals or biological mechanisms.
  • Prototype Technologies (D-4): Allows for the testing and evaluation of new treatment technologies.
  • Review of Standards (D-5): Mandates periodic standards review to ensure safety, environmental acceptability, practicability, cost-effectiveness, and biological effectiveness.

• The Ballast Water Management module contains information on the following items as required by the BWM Convention:

  • Exemptions granted to ships under regulation A-4;
  • Ballast water exchange areas designated under regulation B-4.2;
  • Additional measures under regulation C-1; and
  • Warnings concerning ballast water uptake in certain areas and related flag State measures under regulation C-2.

• The links to the right provide access to other modules that contain information also required by the BWM Convention, as follows:

  • Type-approved ballast water management systems in accordance with Guidelines (G8) or the BWMS Code, in the ‘Pollution Prevention Equipment and Anti-fouling Systems’ module;
  • Contact points for applications for exemptions in accordance with Guidelines (G7), in the ‘Contact Points’ module;
  • Availability of reception facilities for ballast water and sediments and alleged inadequacies related to sediment reception facilities in accordance with articles 5 and 14, in the ‘Port Reception Facilities’ module; and
  • Responsibilities and conditions of the authority delegated to nominated surveyors or recognized organizations in accordance with regulation E-1, in the ‘Recognized Organizations’ module.

Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention)

• The objective of the London Convention and Protocol is to promote the effective control of all sources of marine pollution. Contracting Parties shall take effective measures to prevent pollution of the marine environment caused by dumping at sea.
• The purpose of the London Convention is to control all sources of marine pollution and prevent pollution of the sea through regulation of dumping into the sea of waste materials. A so-called “black- and grey-list” approach is applied for wastes, which can be considered for disposal at sea according to the hazard they present to the environment. For the blacklist items dumping is prohibited. Dumping of the grey-listed materials requires a special permit from a designated national authority under strict control and provided certain conditions are met. All other materials or substances can be dumped after a general permit has been issued.