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Technical Notices

Amendments to Annex V of MARPOL Convention

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At IMO MEPC 70th session the amendments to the Annex V of the MARPOL Convention related to products which are hazardous to the marine environment (HME) and Form of Garbage Record Book were adopted. These amendments were adopted by Resolution MEPC.277(70) with the entry-into-force date 1 March 2018 and  include the following:

  1. Cargo Residues Harmful to the Marine Environment (HME) MARPOL Annex V currently prohibits the discharge of cargo residues, cleaning agents or additives contained in hold washing water of any substance classified as HME, but there are no mandatory criteria to classify cargoes as either HME or non-HME. Amendments adopted at MEPC 70 now mandate that solid bulk cargoes, other than grain, shall be classified in accordance with:

 
(a) the criteria specified in the 2012 Guidelines for the implementation of MARPOL Annex V, resolution MEPC.219(63), and

(b) the declaration provided by the shipper as to whether or not they are harmful to the marine environment.

-See Annex I to this Circular-

  1. Garbage Record Book

 
The requirements to maintain and retain the Garbage Record Book onboard the ship remain unchanged. These include:

  • the general types of information to be recorded;
  • the requirement for the officer in charge to record and sign-off each discharge into the sea, or to a reception facility;
  • the requirement for the master of the ship to sign-off each completed page;
  • the retention of receipts for using a waste reception facility in port with the record book; and
  • the retention of the record book for two years, for inspection by authorities.

New Form of Garbage Record Book will consist of two parts:

Part I will be for the use of all ships.

Part II will be only required for ships that carry solid bulk cargoes.

Part I and Part II will be produced as two separate record books similar to Part I and Part II of the Oil Record Book, required under MARPOL Annex I). 

Garbage Record Book Part I

The following categories of garbage discharge will need to be recorded under Part I:

New category of waste “e-waste” is included in form of Garbage Record Book

–  Definition for this category of waste is already laid down in 2012 Guidelines for the implementation of MARPOL Annex V (resolution MEPC.219(63), as amended by resolution MEPC.239(65));

–   E-Waste is defined as any electronic equipment, including its components, sub-assemblies and consumables, when disposed of as a waste

-See Annex II to this Circular-

For each entry, the date-time, category and signature sections remain unchanged.

The position of the ship at the time of discharge will need to include information such as the latitude and longitude for a discharge at sea, or the details of the location when discharging to a reception facility.

In addition, the details of the specific discharge record will need to be separated to clearly identify if the waste was: incinerated; discharged into the sea; or discharged to a reception facility or to another ship. The measurement to be used for the amount of waste discharged (i.e. m3) will also need to identified.

There will also be a section for remarks on the incineration or discharge of the waste to align with the requirements of MARPOL Annex V (e.g. position of the ship and the start and stop times for incineration).

Part I of the Garbage Record Book will also have a separate section for recording exceptional discharges or loss of garbage, including those exceptional situations outlined in MARPOL Annex V.

MARPOL Annex V requires that if an exceptional discharge or accidental loss occurs, the entry into the Garbage Record Book include:

  • the date and time of occurrence;
  • the port or position of the ship at the time of occurrence including latitude, longitude and water depth if known;
  • the categories of garbage discharged or lost, and the estimated amount for each category in cubic metres; and
  • the reason for discharge or loss, the details of the items discharges or lost, reasonable precautions taken to prevent or minimise such discharge or accidental loss.

If such a discharge occurs on any ship less than 400 gross tonnage, an entry is to be made in the ship’s official log-book with the above details. 

Garbage Record Book Part II

Part II – for all cargo residues as defined in regulation 1.2 of MARPOL Annex V, will record discharges under regulations 4 (Discharge of garbage outside special areas) and 6 (Discharge of garbage within special areas).

The following categories of garbage discharge will need to be recorded under Part II:

J/ Cargo residues (non-Harmful to the Marine Environment)

K/ Cargo residues (Harmful to the Marine Environment).

Information to be recorded in Part II includes:

  • the date and time of the discharge;
  • the position of the ship or name of the port if disposed ashore;
  • the category of discharge;
  • the estimated amount discharged into the sea, a reception facility or to another ship; and
  • the start and stop positions of the ship for discharges into the sea.

-See Annex III to this Circular-

3. Alignment of the Regulation 10 of the Annex V (Placards, garbage management plans and garbage record-keeping) to amended form of Garbage Record Book.

4. In addition to the amendments listed above the consequential changes to the Standard format of the advance notification form for waste delivery to port reception facilities related to new category of waste “e-waste” were prepared. Revised MEPC Circular (Appendix 2 of MEPC.1/Circ.834 Consolidated Guidance for Port Reception Facility Providers and Users) will be issued following the entry into force of the amendments to MARPOL Annex V.

5. Further to the above, the structure of the Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS) Port Reception Facility module2 will be amended accordingly.

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