If all of the conditions below are satisfied, the discharge of washing water must be made not less than 12nm away from land/ice shelf:

• - Cargo residues, cleaning agents or additives contained in hold washing water must not include any substances harmful to marine environment; and


• - Voyage from port of departure to destination must not involve transit outside special area; and


• - No adequate reception facilities in the ports of call.

• - Discharge necessary for the purposes of securing safety of a ship or for saving life at sea;


• - Accidental loss of garbage resulting from damage to a ship if all reasonable precautions have been taken;


• - Accidental loss of fishing gear from a ship if all reasonable precautions have been taken; or


• - Discharge of fishing gear from a ship for the protection of the marine environment or for safety of that ship or its crew.

“Cargo residues means the remnants of any cargo which are not covered by other Annexes to the present Convention and which remain on the deck or in holds following loading or unloading, including loading and unloading excess or spillage, whether in wet or dry condition or entrained in wash water but does not include cargo dust remaining on the deck after sweeping or dust on the external surfaces of the ship.” (Regulation 1, Definitions, sub-paragraph 2, attachment 1).

Accordingly, mere cargo dust is not within the definition, but everything else cargo-related is.

“…cargo residues that cannot be recovered using commonly available methods for unloading.” (Regulation 4, para. 1.3, attachment 1).

• (1) Acute Aquatic Toxity Category 1;


• (2) Chronic Aquatic Toxity Category 1 or 2;


• (3) Carcinogenicity Category 1A or 1B combined with not being rapidly degradable and having high bioaccumulation;


• (4) Mutagenicity Category 1A or 1B combined with not being rapidly degradable and having high bioaccumulation;


• (5) Reproductive Toxicity Category 1A or 1B combined with not being rapidly degradable and having high bioaccumulation;


• (6) Specific Target Organ Toxicity Repeated Exposure Category 1 combined with not being rapidly degradable and having high bioaccumulation; and/or


• (7) Solid bulk cargoes containing or consisting of synthetic polymers, rubber, plastics, or plastic feedstock pellets (this includes materials that are shredded, milled, chopped or macerated or similar materials).

The Amendment may be downloaded from:
http://www.safety4sea.com/images/media/pdf/IMO-MEPC-810.pdf

• - Based upon the information received from the relevant port authorities, the master determines that there are no adequate reception facilities either at the receiving terminal or at the next port of call;


• - The ship is en route and as far as practicable from the nearest land, but not less than 12nm;


• - Before washing, solid bulk cargo residue is removed (and bagged for discharge ashore) as far as practicable and holds are swept;


• - Filters are used in the bilge wells to collect any remaining solid particles and minimize solid residue discharge; and


• - The discharge is recorded.

The list may be downloaded:
http://www.imo.org/OurWork/Environment/PollutionPrevention/ChemicalPollution/Documents/GESAMP-EHSCompositelistofhazardeprofiles.pdf

Inside special areas, discharge is restricted to:

“Discharge of cargo residues that cannot be recovered using commonly available methods for unloading, where all of the following conditions are satisfied:

Cargo residues, cleaning agents or additives, contained in hold washing water do not include any substances classified as harmful to the marine environment, taking into account guidelines developed by the Organization;
…

Where the conditions of subparagraphs 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 of this paragraph have been fulfilled, discharge of cargo hold washing water containing residues shall be made as far as practicable from the nearest land…” (Regulation 6 para 1.2).

Accordingly, only cargo hold washing water containing residues of cargo may be discharged into sea inside a special area.

Note that the Amendment (attachment 4) applies only to discharge of cargo residue outside special areas. Accordingly, if there is any doubt about the hazardous nature of the cargo, the cargo residues should not be discharged into the sea.

The bark would be a cargo residue for the purposes of the definition discussed in section 3.1 above.

Discharge into the sea not within a special area:

In accordance with the overriding objective of Revised Annex V the residues should be discharged in a port rather than at sea. Discharge into the sea should always be the last resort.

Consider whether the bark could have been recovered at discharge port using commonly available methods (attachment 1, Regulation 4 para. 1.3).

The IMSBC Code provides no special requirements for discharge. Accordingly, it should be possible to remove bark residue at any port when conducting a thorough discharge operation.

Determine whether the cargo is classified as harmful to the marine environment. At first glance, bark residue would not appear to be harmful to the environment. However, local and global phytosanitary regulations (e.g. ISPM No 15) may require wood cargoes to be fumigated prior to shipment. The toxic fumigant used is likely to remain highly concentrated in the barks and would render the residues potentially harmful.

If that were the case, the bark residue could not be discharged into the sea outside special areas (and therefore, obviously, not within special areas either).

This illustrates that each cargo residue has to be considered on its own facts. In this case, a fumigant may render a safe cargo potentially hazardous to the marine environment. In case of doubt, ships' crews should be instructed to liaise with the technical management ashore before discharge.

In order to ensure that officers and crew are fully aware of the obligations of Revised Annex V, we recommend that Members should prepare and issue a garbage management manual. We refer to the Guidelines for the development of garbage management plans ("Guidelines for garbage management plans", attachment 3). . Adherence to such a garbage management plan will enable Members to demonstrate that due diligence has been exercised to comply with Revised Annex V. Training should also be given, and training records completed and kept. In cases of doubt, officers and crew should refer questions to shore management. Shore management may in turn need to refer to the competent authority in the jurisdiction of the port of call.

Enforcement of the Regulation is contained in the Guidelines (attachment 2):

“Governments should identify appropriate agencies for enforcement and facilitating compliance and provide legal authority, adequate training, funding and equipment to incorporate the goals and objectives under Annex V regulations into their responsibilities…” (Paragraph 6.2.3).

Accordingly, enforcement is a matter for the law of individual ratifying member states. The competent authorities on a national level will be the government departments conducting port state control in the respective states. Those are the authorities which determine the penalties.

The relevant provisions are at Rule 31. Club cover may be prejudiced if the Member fails to take appropriate measures to prevent fines.

*****