MARPOL
MARPOL 73/78 refers to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships. The numbers affixed to the convention reflects 1973 and 1978, respectively. MARPOL actually stands for marine pollution, so apparently, this convention is geared towards international marine environmental conservation.
MARPOL aims at minimizing sea pollution including dumping as well as oil and exhaust pollution by ships either caused by the operation or other accidents. The objective of MARPOL is “to preserve the marine environment through the complete elimination of pollution by oil and other harmful substances and the minimization of accidental discharge of such substances.”
There are about 136 countries that are considered parties to MARPOL as of 31st December 2005. This figure represents about 98% of the shipping tonnage worldwide. All the ships that are flagged under these countries are considered signatories of MARPOL and thus, are subject to the requirements despite where the ships sail. Member nations hold the responsibility for vessels registered under the respective nationalities. The country where the ship is actually registered is thus responsible for the ship certification compliance with MARPOL’s pollution prevention standards. On the other end, the signatory nations are responsible for enacting their respective domestic laws in implementing the convention and its annexes. The Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships of the US is an example of this.
Further, MARPOL has six technical annexes, all of which cover special areas with strict controls on operational discharges. The annexes cater to regulations for the prevention of pollution by oil (Annex 1, entered into force on 2nd October 1983); noxious liquid substances carried in bulk (Annex 2, entered into force on 2nd October 1983), harmful substances carried in packaged form (Annex 3, entered into force on 1st July 1992); sewage from ships (Annex 4, entered into force on 27th September 2003), garbage from ships (Annex 5, entered into force on 31st December 1988), and air pollution from ships (Annex 6, entered into force on 19th May 2005).
Of the six annexes, Annex 6 already had two amendments. The first amendment entered into force on 1st July 2010 while the second amendment came into effect on 1st January 2013. The second amendment forms part of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) adoption for groundbreaking mandatory technical and operational efficiency measures in light of a significant reduction in a number of greenhouse gas emissions from ships.
Under Annex 6, there are specific factors that ship operators have to prepare to obtain the required International Air Pollution Prevention (IAPP). These are stipulated in Regulations 6 and 12 to 18 except 17. The activities include, but are not limited to, preparing lists of ozone-depleting substances for all ships and how to handle them, checking if engines are NOx certified with appropriate documentation, planning bunker strategies such as calculating fuel changeover time, obtaining approvals for incinerators, preparing routines for filling bunker delivery notes, and preparing facilities for sample storage.
While the implementation of MARPOL is critical for the conservation of the quality of the various bodies of water worldwide, the implementation is not without difficulties. This is perhaps because of the international nature of maritime shipping itself. Surprisingly, despite the pledge and referral, the response of the flag states is inadequate. For one, when a ship visits a country, it can conduct an investigation on the ship’s compliance with international standards. Should the ship is proven non-compliant the country may detain the ship. Evidently, this will depend on the jurisdiction.
MARPOL cannot emphasize enough the importance of complying with the annexes otherwise the ships themselves will eventually find more difficulties navigating on non-navigatable bodies of water due to sea pollution. When more ships are non-compliant than compliant, MARPOL will defeat its purpose and will be rendered useless. Without MARPOL, much more waste will be dumped at seas, for instance, making the seas more polluted than before.
On the national level, MARPOL requires that each country is obligated in ensuring that it is equipped with the necessary facilities in handling ship waste efficiently and safely. MARPOL thereby encourages the participation of each nation to reduce sea pollution in any way it can. Protecting the seas is every nation’s responsibility more so because people, regardless of their nationalities, are affected directly and indirectly by sea pollution. Such motivation should be clear to all the country signatories of MARPOL.
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