Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies

MARPOL for DNS

• INTRODUCTION
– Oil tankers transport some 1,800 million tonnes of crude oil around the
world by sea.
– Most of the time, oil is transported quietly and safely.
– Measures introduced by IMO have helped ensure that the majority of
oil tankers are safely built and operated and are constructed to reduce
the amount of oil spilled in the event of an accident.
– Operational pollution, such as from routine tank cleaning operations,
has also been cut.
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 Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies
Environment Protection
• History of MARPOL
– The world's first oil tankers appeared in the late 19th century and carried
kerosene for lighting.
– The invention of the motor car fuelled demand for oil.
– The potential for oil to pollute the marine environment was recognized by
the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by
Oil, 1954 (OILPOL 1954).
– The Conference adopting the Convention was organised by the United
Kingdom government.
– OILPOL 54   prohibited the dumping of oily wastes within a certain distance
from land and in 'special areas' where the danger to the environment was
especially acute.
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 Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies
Environment Protection

• In 1967, the Torrey Canyon ran aground while entering

the English Channel and spilled her entire cargo of
120,000 tons of crude oil into the sea.
• Biggest oil pollution incident ever recorded up to that
time.
• Poor measures then in place to prevent oil pollution from
ships.
• Deficiencies in the existing system for providing
compensation following accidents at sea.
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 Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies
Environment Protection
• IMO called an Extraordinary session of its
Council.
• Drew up a plan of action on technical and legal
aspects of the Torrey Canyon incident.
• The Torrey Canyon incident set in motion the
chain of events that eventually led to the
adoption of MARPOL - as well as a host of
Conventions in the field of liability and
compensation.
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 Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies
Environment Protection
• Finally an international Conference in 1973 adopted the
International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from
Ships (MARPOL).
• It incorporated much of OILPOL 1954 and its amendments into
Annex I, covering oil, while other annexes covered Chemicals (II),
Harmful substances carried in packaged form (III), Sewage (IV) and
Garbage (V).
• Surprisingly till 1976 the convention was ratified by only three
nations (Jordan, Kenya and Tunisia) where as, in order to enter into
force, the requirement was ratification by 15 States, with a combined
merchant fleet of not less than 50 percent of world shipping by gross
tonnage,
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 Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies
Environment Protection
• It appeared as though the 1973 Convention will never
see light of the day, despite its importance.
• Tanker Accident kept happening between 1976-1977.
• IMO held a Conference on Tanker Safety and Pollution
Prevention in February 1978.
• The conference adopted measures affecting tanker
design and operation, which were incorporated into both
the Protocol of 1978 relating SOLAS & MARPOL -
adopted on 17 February 1978

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 Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies
Environment Protection
• The 1978 MARPOL Protocol allowed States to become
Party to the Convention by first implementing Annex I (oil).
• It was decided that Annex II (chemicals) would not become
binding until three years after the Protocol entered into
force.
• This gave States time to overcome technical problems in
Annex II, which for some had been a major obstacle in
ratifying the Convention.
• Annexes III to V, were already declared optional in 1973.

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 Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies
Environment Protection
• As the 1973 Convention had not yet entered into
force, the 1978 MARPOL Protocol absorbed the
parent Convention.
• The combined instrument - the International
Convention for the Prevention of Marine
Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified by the
Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL
73/78) - finally entered into force on 2 October
1983 (for Annexes I and II).
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 Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies
MARPOL Annexes – Entry into Force
ANNEX COMMODITY ENTRY INTO FORCE

I Oil 02-10-1983 Revision 01-01-2007

II Noxious liquid substances (NLS) 06-04-1987 Revision 01-01-2007

III Harmful substances in packages 01-07-1992

IV Sewage 27-09-2003 Revision 01-08-2005

V Garbage 31-12-1988

VI Air 19-05-2005

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 Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies
Definition as per MARPOL

• Harmful Substances means any substance which, if

introduced into the sea, is liable to create hazards to
human health, to harm living resources and marine life,
to damage amenities or to interfere with other legitimate
uses of the sea, and includes any substance subject to
control by the present Convention.

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 Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies
Definition as per MARPOL
• Discharge in relation to harmful substances or effluents containing
such substances, means any release howsoever caused from a ship
and includes any escape, disposal, spilling, leaking, pumping, emitting
or emptying;
• "Discharge" does not include:
– (i). dumping within the meaning of the Convention on the Prevention of Marine
Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, done at London on 13 November
1972; or
– (ii). release of harmful substances directly arising from the exploration, exploitation
and associated offshore processing of sea-bed mineral resources; or
– (iii). release of harmful substances for purposes of legitimate scientific research into
pollution abatement or control.

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 Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies
Definition as per MARPOL

• Ship means a vessel of any type whatsoever operating in the marine

environment and includes hydrofoil boats, air-cushion vehicles,
submersibles, floating craft and fixed or floating platforms.

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 Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies
Definition as per MARPOL

• Administration means the Government of the State under whose

authority the ship is operating. With respect to a ship entitled to fly a
flag of any State, the Administration is the Government of that State.
With respect to fixed or floating platforms engaged in exploration and
exploitation of the sea-bed and subsoil thereof adjacent to the coast
over which the coastal State exercises sovereign rights for the
purposes of exploration and exploitation of their natural resources, the
Administration is the Government of the coastal State concerned.

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 Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies
Definition as per MARPOL

• Incident means an event involving the actual or probable discharge

into the sea of a harmful substance, or effluents containing such a
substance.

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 Samundra Institute of Maritime Studies
Definition as per MARPOL Annex-I
• Oil means petroleum in any form including crude
oil, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse and refined
products (other than those petrochemicals which
are subject to the provisions of Annex II of the
present Convention) and, without limiting the
generality of the foregoing, includes the
substances listed in appendix I to Annex I of
MARPOL

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