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

1.
2.

MARPOL
Annex I
i.
ii.

Regulations and Chapters

Fundamentals
1. Operation
2. Construction

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

1. MARPOL
Amoco Cadiz 1978

1974 built Amoco Cadiz carrying

227,000tonnes 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.

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

1. MARPOL
Not just Oil
MARPOL Annexes I VI
I.

Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Oil

II.

Regulations for the Control of Pollution by Noxious Liquid

Substances in Bulk

III.

Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Harmful

Substances Carried by Sea in Packaged Form

IV.

Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Sewage from Ships

V.

Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from

Ships

VI.

Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships

1. MARPOL
MARPOL Implementation
1967 Torrey Canyon
1973-1978 Amoco Cadiz et al.
MARPOL 73 and the Protocol 78
MARPOL enters into force October 1983

Annex
Annex
Annex
Annex
Annex

I and II - 1983
III 1992
V 1988
IV 2003
VI - 2005

2. Annex I regulations and chapters

39 regulations in 7 chapters to regulate oil pollution from ships
(not just tankers):
1.
2.

Ship/Tanker design
Ship/Tanker operation

2. Annex I regulations and chapters

39 regulations in 7 chapters to regulate oil pollution from ships
(not just tankers):
Chapte
r
1

Regulations
1-5

General: Definitions and applications

6-11
Surveys and certification: Flag administration and Port State
Control (PSC)

12-17
Machinery space: Construction, discharge control and
equipment
(all ship types)

18-36

37

Shipboard oil pollution emergency plan (SOPEP)

38

Reception facilities

39

FPSOs and FSUs

Cargo areas: Construction, discharge control and equipment

(oil tankers)

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)

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

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

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
trafficspecial 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

2. Annex I fundamentals; Operation

Special Areas (2):
those listed in Annex I:

Baltic Sea
Black Sea
Red Sea
Mediterranean Sea
Gulf of Aden
Antarctic
Gulfs area
Northwest European waters
Southern South African waters
Oman area of the Arabian Sea

1983
1983
not in effect
1983
not in effect
1992
Aug 2008
1999
Aug 2008
not in effect

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

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

2. Annex I fundamentals;
Construction
Tank (ship) construction:
Exxon Valdez 1989
OPA 90

force

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

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

2. Annex I fundamentals;
Construction
Tank (ship) construction:
Erika 1999
force

IMO amendments to MARPOL 73/78 (adopted 4/2001, entry into

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

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)

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
Category 1 phase-out up to 2005
Categories 2&3 phase-out up to 2010
CAS required for Categories 2&3 over 15 years old

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

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-stateextended tankers carrying HGO

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Annex I fundamentals;
Miscellaneous
Other key elements to MARPOL\Annex I:

FPSOs/FSUs
a.

b.
c.

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:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

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.

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