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International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by
the Protocol of 1978, as amended in 2004 and 2015

ANNEX I REGULATIONS FOR THE PREVENTION OF POLLUTION BY OIL

CHAPTER 3 REQUIREMENTS FOR MACHINERY SPACES OF ALL SHIPS

PART C CONTROL OF OPERATIONAL DISCHARGE OF OIL

Regulation 15 Control of discharge of oil

Applicable from 2007-01-01. For all ships

Specific subjects;
2/3 Ships ≥ 400 gt.
6 Ships < 400 gt.

See IMO-Vega Note for amendments

1 Subject to the provisions of regulation 4 of this annex and paragraphs 2, 3, and 6 of this
regulation, any discharge into the sea special of oil or oily mixtures from ships shall be prohibited.

A. Discharges outside special areas except in Arctic waters

2 Any discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixtures from ships of 400 gross tonnage and above
shall be prohibited except when all the following conditions are satisfied:

.1 the ship is proceeding en route;

.2 the oily mixture is processed through an oil filtering equipment meeting the
requirements of regulation 14 of this Annex;

.3 the oil content of the effluent without dilution does not exceed 15 parts per million;

.4 the oily mixture does not originate from cargo pump room bilges on oil tankers; and

.5 the oily mixture, in case of oil tankers, is not mixed with oil cargo residues.

B. Discharges in special areas

3 Any discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixtures from ships of 400 gross tonnage and above
shall be prohibited except when all of the following conditions are satisfied:

.1 the ship is proceeding en route;

.2 the oily mixture is processed through an oil filtering equipment meeting the
requirements of regulation 14.7 of this Annex;

.3 the oil content of the effluent without dilution does not exceed 15 parts per million;

.4 the oily mixture does not originate from cargo pump room bilges on oil tankers; and

.5 the oily mixture, in case of oil tankers, is not mixed with oil cargo residues.

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4 In respect of the Antarctic area, any discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixtures from any ship
shall be prohibited.

5 Nothing in this regulation shall prohibit a ship on a voyage only part of which is in a special area
from discharging outside a special area in accordance with paragraphs 2 of this regulation.

C. Requirements for ships of less than 400 gross tonnage in all areas except the Antarctic
area and Arctic waters

6 In the case of a ship of less than 400 gross tonnage, oil and all oily mixtures shall either be
retained on board for subsequent discharge to reception facilities or discharged into the sea in
accordance with the following provisions :

.1 the ship is proceeding en route;

.2 the ship has in operation equipment of a design approved by the Administration that
ensures that the oil content of the effluent without dilution does not exceed 15 parts per
million;

.3 the oily mixture does not originate from cargo pump room bilges on oil tankers; and

.4 the oily mixture, in case of oil tankers, is not mixed with oil cargo residues.

D. General requirements

7 Whenever visible traces of oil are observed on or below the surface of the water in the
immediate vicinity of a ship or its wake, Governments of Parties to the present Convention should,
to the extent they are reasonably able to do so, promptly investigate the facts bearing on the issue
of whether there has been a violation of the provisions of this regulation. The investigation should
include, in particular, the wind and sea conditions, the track and speed of the ship, other possible
sources of the visible traces in the vicinity, and any relevant oil discharge records.

8 No discharge into the sea shall contain chemicals or other substances in quantities or
concentrations which are hazardous to the marine environment or chemicals or other substances
introduced for the purpose of circumventing the conditions of discharge specified in this regulation.

9 The oil residues which cannot be discharged into the sea in compliance with this regulation shall
be retained on board for subsequent discharge to reception facilities.

IMO-Vega Guide

1B

See res. A.1087(28) of 2013-12-04 2013 Guidelines for the designation of special areas under
MARPOL.

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The following Unified interpretation issued as Annex 18 in the report from MEPC 55 on
October 2006 was made to this regulation:

2.1 22A Definition of "en route"

En route means that the ship is underway at sea on a course or courses, including deviation
from the shortest direct route, which, as far as practicable for navigation purposes, will cause
any discharge to be spread over as great an area of the sea as is reasonable and practicable.

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The following Unified interpretations to this regulation were originally issued as

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Annex 3 in the report from MEPC 52 on October 2004:

3.2 18 Automatic stopping device required by regulation 15.3.2

Regulation 15.3.2 includes a reference to regulation 14.7 which requires both a 15 ppm
bilge alarm and an stopping device which will ensure that the discharge is automatically
stopped when the oil content of the effluent exceeds 15 ppm. Since, however, this is not a
requirement of regulation 14 for ships of less than 10 000 gross tonnage, such ships need
not be required to be equipped with such alarm and stopping device if no effluent from
machinery space bilge is to be discharged within special areas. Conversely, the discharge of
effluent within special areas from ships without 15ppm bilge alarm and an automatic
stopping device is a contravention of the Convention even if the oil content of the effluent is
below 15 ppm.

22 Control of dicharge of oil

22.1 Transfer of non-oil-cargo related oily residues to slop tanks of oil tankers

2.1.1 If non-oil-cargo related oily residues are transferred to slop tanks of oil tankers
the discharge of such residues should be in compliance with regulation 34.

22.1.2 The above interpretation should not be construed as relaxing any existing
prohibition of piping arrangements connecting the engine-room and slop tanks
which may permit cargo to enter the machinery spaces. Any arrangements
provided for machinery space bilge discharges into slop tanks should incorporate
adequate means to prevent any backflow of liquid cargo and gases into the
machinery spaces. Any such arrangements do not constitute a relaxing of the
requirements of regulation 14 with respect to oil filtering equipment.

IMO-Vega Note

This regulation was amended by res. MEPC.265(68), as inserted above, adopted 2015-05-15 and
applicable from 2017-01-01:

At the end of the title for section A, the words "except in Arctic waters" were added.

At the end of the title for section C, the words "and Arctic waters" were added.

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This revised Annex I was adopted by res. MEPC.117(52) on 2004-10-15, applicable from 2007-01-
01.

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MARPOL Annex I entered into force 1983-10-02.

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Document id: MAR04115ABA

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