Discharge of Oily Water

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Control of discharge of oil

1. Subject to regualtions regarding discharge of oil mixtures in special areas or in exceptional circumstances listed below, any discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixtures from ships shall be prohibited except when all the following conditions are satisfied:
   1. for an oil tanker, except as provided for in subparagraph (b) of this paragraph:
      1. the tanker is not within a special area;
      2. the tanker is more than 50 nautical miles from the nearest land;
      3. the tanker is proceeding en route;
      4. the instantaneous rate of discharge of oil content does not exceed 30 litres per nautical mile;
      5. the total quantity of oil discharged into the sea does not exceed for existing tankers 1/15,000 of the total quantity of the particular cargo of which the residue formed a part, and for new tankers 1/30,000 of the total quantity of the particular cargo of which the residue formed a part; and
      6. the tanker has in operation an oil discharge monitoring and control system and a slop tank arrangement as required under regulation 15 of Annex 1 of MARPOL 73/78. ( this sets out requirements for approved installations for the handling of tank washings and dirty ballast)
   2. from a ship of 400 tons gross tonnage and above other than an oil tanker and from machinery space bilges excluding cargo pump-room bilges of an oil tanker unless mixed with oil cargo residue:
      1. the ship is not within a special area;
      2. the ship is proceeding en route;
      3. the oil content of the effluent withoput dilution does not exceed 15 parts per million; and
      4. the ship has in operation equipment as required under regulation 16 16 of Annex 1 of MARPOL 73/78.(Oil discharge monitoring and control system and oil filtering equipment)
2. In the case of a ship of less than 400 tons gross tonnage other than an oil tanker whilst outside the special area, the Administration shall ensure that it is equipped as far as practicable and reasonable with installations to ensure the storage of oil residues on board and their discharge to reception facilities or into the sea in compliance with the requirements of paragraph (1)(b) of this regulation.
3. 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 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 or regulation 10 (discharge in special areas) of this Annex. 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.
4. The provisions of paragraph (1) of this regulation shall not apply to the discharge of clean or segregated ballast or unprocessed oily mixtures which without dilution have an oil content not exceeding 15 parts per million and which do not originate from cargo pump-room bilges and are not mixed with oil cargo residues.
5. 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.
6. The oil residues which cannot be discharged into the sea in compliance with this regulation shall be retained on board or discharged to reception facilities.
7. In the case of a ship, referred to in regulation 16(6) of this Annex, not fitted with equipment as required by regulation 16(1) or 16(2) of this Annex, the provisions of paragraph (1)(b) of this regulation will not apply until 6 July 1998 or the date on which the ship is fitted with such equipment, whichever is the earlier. Until this date any discharge from machinery space bilges into the sea of oil or oily mixtures from such a ship shall be prohibited except when all the following conditions are satisfied:
   1. the oily mixture does not originate from the cargo pump-room bilges;
   2. the oily mixture is not mixed with oil cargo residues;
   3. the ship is not within a special area;
   4. the ship is more than 12 nautical miles from the nearest land;
   5. the ship is proceeding en route;
   6. the oil content of the effluent is less than 100 parts per million; and
   7. the ship has in operation oily-water separating equipment of a design approved by the Administration, taking into account the specification recommended by the Organization.

Special Areas

1. 1. Any discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixture from any oil tanker and any ship of 400 tons gross tonnage and above other than an oil tanker shall be prohibited while in a special area. In respect of the Antarctic area, any discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixture from any ship shall be prohibited.
   2. Except as provided for in respect of the Antarctic area under subparagraph 1(a) of this regulation, any discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixture from a ship of less than 400 tons gross tonnage, other than an oil tanker, shall be prohibited while in a special area, except when the oil content of the effluent without dilution does not exceed 15 parts per million.
2. 1. The provisions of paragraph (1) of this regulation shall not apply to the discharge of clean or segregated ballast.
   2. The provisions of subparagraph (1)(a) of this regulation shall not apply to the discharge of processed bilge water from machinery spaces, provided that all of the following conditions are satisfied:
      1. the bilge water does not originate from cargo pump-room bilges;
      2. the bilge water is not mixed with oil cargo residues;
      3. the ship is proceeding en route;
      4. the oil content of the effluent without dilution does not exceed 15 parts per million;
      5. the ship has in operation 15ppm oil filtering equipment of approved design
      6. the filtering system is equipped with a stopping device which will ensure that the discharge is automatically stopped when the oil content of the effluent exceeds 15 parts per million.

Exceptions

1. the discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixture necessary for the purpose of securing the safety of a ship or saving life at sea; or
2. the discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixture resulting from damage to a ship or its equipment:
   1. provided that all reasonable precautions have been taken after the occurrence of the damage or discovery of the discharge for the purpose of preventing or minimizing the discharge; and
   2. except if the owner or the master acted either with intent to cause damage, or recklessly and with knowledge that damage would probably result; or
3. the discharge into the sea of substances containing oil, approved by the Administration, when being used for the purpose of combating specific pollution incidents in order to minimize the damage from pollution. Any such discharge shall be subject to the approval of any Government in whose jurisdiction it is contemplated the discharge will occur.