We have received the information regarding the subject matter from the local correspondent in Ghana, TCI GHANA.

Ghana enacted a domestic law Maritime Pollution Act 2016, implementing MARPOL 73/78 with its six Annexes in 2016. Following this enactment, GHANA MARITIME AUTHORITY (GMA) have imposed fines on the vessels in case of any incident violating Maritime Pollution Act 2016.

A PSC (Port State Control) inspector mandated by GMA will request the Captain to check the vessel. Once the vessel is fined for any breach of the domestic law, negotiation to cancel or reduce the fines will be not easy. Therefore, paying extra attention to follow MARPOL is important when calling to the ports in Ghana. For more details, please find the attached circular.