Amendments to Annex V of MARPOL Convention.

 Amendments to Annex V of MARPOL Convention.

 MARPOL Annex V regulation 10 requires every ship of 400 gross tonnage and above and every ship which is certified to carry 15 or more persons engaged in voyages to ports or offshore terminals under the jurisdiction of another Party to the Convention and every fixed or floating platform shall be provided with a Garbage Record Book.

 IMO MEPC 70th session has adopted amendments to Annex V of MARPOL convention related to products which are hazardous to marine environment (HME) and Form of Garbage Record Book by resolution MEPC.277 (70).

 The adopted amendments will be effective from 01st March 2018.

 The new form of Garbage Record Book has been introduced which is divided into Part I and Part II. Part I of Garbage Record Book is applicable to all ships; while Part II is required only for ships carrying solid bulk cargoes.

 For the purpose of recording; the categories of garbage discharge are given below where a new category E-waste is added under part I.

Under Part I:

A. Plastics

B. Food wastes

C. Domestic wastes

D. Cooking oil

E. Incinerator ashes

F. Operational wastes

G. Animal carcass(es)

H. Fishing gear

I. E-waste

Under Part II:

J. Cargo residues (Non Harmful to the Marine Environment)

K. Cargo residues (Harmful to the Marine Environment)

 Format of record book has been changed in order to clearly identify the specific discharge record separately as incinerated, discharged into sea or discharged to reception facility.

 Entry of specific discharge recorded should include following data:

A. Discharge into sea:

 For filling Part I - Date and time, position of the ship (Latitude and longitude), Category of the garbage and estimated amount discharged (in cubic meters).

 For filling part II – Discharge start and stop position to be recorded along with data written in part I.

B. Incineration:

 Date and time, position of the ship (Latitude and longitude) at the start and stop of incineration, categories of garbage incinerated and estimated amount of incinerated for each category in cubic meters.

C. Discharge to a port reception facility or another ship:

 Date and time of discharge, port or facility or name of ship, categories of garbage discharged and estimated amount discharged for each category in cubic meters.

 The record of exceptional discharge or accidental loss of garbage is to be recorded in separate section under newly added table.

 In case of ship not required to carry Garbage Record Book; an entry is to be made in ship’s official log book.

 Accordingly owners and operators are requested to keep placards, garbage management plan and garbage record in-line with amended categorization of garbage discharge.

 It is to be noted that the requirements to maintain and retain the Garbage Record Book on board ship remain unchanged and record books along with the receipts obtained from reception facilities are to be retained for two (2) years from the date of last entry made for inspection by authorities.

Brief about GMP

An approved garbage management plan must consist of the following-

• Ships details.

• Overview of Annex V of MARPOL.

• List of equipments for handling garbage on ship.

• Placards to be posted for disposal criteria.

• Possible local recycling arrangements.

• Written procedures for Collecting Garbage.

• Garbage segregation description to avoid intermixing of garbage which includes Identification of suitable receptacles for collection & separation.

• Garbage processing methods available on the ship.

• Garbage storing methods and garbage station.

• Garbage disposal method.

• Entry to be made in garbage record book.

• Emergency and accidental discharge criteria.

• Needs of the reception facilities.

• Identify the available operating & maintenance procedures of collecting equipment on board.

• Describe the training or education programs to facilitate the processing of garbage.

• Identify the location of each collection point.