Conventions Addressing Maritime Safety & Environment Protection

7/29/2019 Conventions Addressing Maritime Safety & Environment Protection

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Conventions Addressing Maritime Safety & Environment Protection

Introduction

It is an obvious fact that shipping accounts for ninety percent of the total goods carried. One of the

oldest modes of transport, shipping has been able to retain its prominence thanks to the mere

infinitesimal increase in freight rates since the 1950s. But although the commercial aspect of

shipping has remained almost stationary, shipping has indeed evolved quite significantly in the 20th

century. Not only in terms of technology, but also in terms of safety & environmental

responsibilities. One of the dangerous professions in the world has made significant efforts to

exclude itself from that list. New organisations formed in the last century have promptly & swiftly

implemented rules & regulations which inhibit accidents to an extent.

Background

It is a matter of logical reasoning that Titanic,Torrey Canyon & September 11, 2001 attacksplayed

a very important role in formulation of regulations concerning maritime safety & environmentalprotection. The SOLAS, since its implementation in 1914, has evolved from simply underlying the

number of lifeboats on a particular ship to the requirement of GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress

Safety System). Additionally SOLAS also lays down rules & regulations regarding other nuances

like life saving appliances & the various codes concerning structural integrity of various ship

structures like FSS (Fire Safety Systems) code which states conditions for testing various life-

saving & fire-fighting appliances to name a few. MARPOL (the environmental protection

convention) has evolved from merely restricting & controlling oil pollution to laying guidelines for

controlling the emission of harmful gases from future generation engines.

Brief History of Origin.

The primary concern for any maritime organization was to improve maritime safety. Additionally it

was also recognized that action to implement maritime safety would be more effective when done

on an international basis rather than individual countries acting unilaterally and without co-

ordination. After the Second World War in 1948, the UN adopted a convention that is today known

as the IMO-International Maritime Organization. Since its date of adoption up until 1982 the IMO


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that we know of today was known as IMCO-Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative

Organization. The IMOs primary concern was to improve maritime safety & to control pollution at

sea. And indeed the IMO has been quite instrumental in executing what it set out to do.

The Conventions

Safety Of Life At Sea (SOLAS)

Following the incident ofTitanic in 1912, there was need for an international maritime safety

convention.First version of Safety of Life At Sea was adopted in 1914, followed by one in 1929 &

another in 1948. During the first IMO conference in 1960, there was great focus on maritime safety& therefore the conference adopted the fourth version of International Convention for Safety Of

Life At Sea. This version of SOLAS entered into force in 1965 replacing the previous version of

1948. In 1974 a new convention was adopted & it included many amendments to the 1960

convention. This new convention entered into force on 25th May 1980. There have been a number of

amendments to this convention, but the convention has retained the same name & is referred to as

SOLAS Convention 1974 As Amended.

The main function of this convention is to specify minimum standards for construction, equipment

& operation of ships. Flag States are responsible for ensuring that these minimum standards are

adhered to & there are certificates prescribed in the convention as proof that this has been done.

Controlling provisions allow the Contracting Government to inspect ships of other Contracting

States if there are clear grounds for believing that the ship & its equipment do not comply with the

requirements of the convention this procedure is known as Port State Control. The current SOLAS

Convention include Articles setting out general obligations, amendment procedure & so on,

followed by an Annex divided into 12 Chapters.

International Safety Management (ISM)

In the 1980s, there was mounting concern regarding poor ship management standards &

investigations of accidents & major errors on part of the ship managers. Thus the IMO assembly

adopted resolution A.596(15) in 1987. The resolution called upon the Maritime Safety Committee

to develop guidelines regarding shipboard & shore-based management to ensure safety at sea,

prevent human injury or loss of life at sea and avoiding damage to environment & property.


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In 1989, IMO adopted guidelines for the management of safe operation of ships & for pollution

prevention to provide those responsible for the operation of ships with a framework for the proper

development, implementation & assessment of safety & pollution prevention management in

accordance with good practice.

These were revised in November 1991 & ISM was adopted as recommendation in 1993. However,

later on it was felt that the code was so important that it should be made mandatory.

Amendments adopted on 24th May, 1994 to SOLAS 74 convention, added a new Chapter IX entitled

Management for Safe Operation of Ships. This code is not available in the Convention as such but

is made mandatory by the Chapter IX.

Adding the code to SOLAS convention provided an international standard for the safe management

of ships & for pollution prevention.

The code requires that a Safety Management System is established by the Company, which could be

defined as the owner, manager, bareboat charterer or whoever has assumed responsibility of

operating the ship.

The SMS should include the following functional requirements:

A safety & environmental protection policy.

Define levels of authority & means of communication between & amongst shore &

shipboard personnel

Procedure for accident reporting

Procedures for emergencies

Procedures for internal audits & management reviews.

The Company is then required to establish & implement these objectives.

The Company should also designate person or persons ashore having access to the highest level of

management.

The Code then outlines the responsibilities & authorities of the Master of the ship. This requirement

should also be included in the SMS of the Company. The code then covers other seagoing personnel

& the training requirements for them


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The code also states the formulation of procedure for key shipboard operations & to make

preparations for any emergencies which might occur. Maintenance of shipboard equipments is also

emphasised by this code.

Compliance with ISM code became mandatory with the adoption of SOLAS Chapter IX. The IMO

provided guidelines on implementing SOLAS Chapter IX & the ISM code in resolution A.788(19),

Guidelines to the implementation of the International Safety Management (ISM) code by

Administrations.

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century shipping has to keep up with demands of quality seaborne operations as well as safety.Following the Erika incident, the European Commission proposed as set of new detailed actions to

improve maritime oil transport safety. They are namely:

Improved identification & monitoring of all ships approaching European ports

Harmonised procedures for the provision & use of information on hazardous of pollution

freight through the use of electronic data interchange (EDI)

Mandatory use of voyage data recorders (also known as maritime black boxes) & automaticidentification system (AIS) to facilitate accident investigation & maritime traffic control

One of the key aspects of preventing accidents is to identify & analyse them. Hence the role of

voyage data recorder comes into play here. This is a recording device similar to the black boxes of

aircrafts & records the final minutes prior to the accident. Studying this information can hugely

impact the safety of similar ships in similar external conditions. On board a few vessels this has

already become mandatory.

Another major factor that contributes to the safety of vessels is the skill level of the crew onboard.

To achieve a standard IMO has adopted a training scheme known as STCW 95. Based on this

convention, certificates are issued for the crew competent enough to perform or undertake certain

responsibilities.

This convention not only covers the basic safety aspects of the ship crew but also his ability to

perform daily tasks linked to the safe operation of the ship.


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MARPOL

International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL)

MARPOL is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine

environment by ships due to operational or accidental causes. It is a result of two treaties adopted in

1973 & 1978 respectively including the protocol of 1997 (Annex VI). It has been amended through

the years.

In the first half of the 20th century, oil pollution was considered a major problem. Therefore a new

convention was issued by the initiative of the United Kingdom in 1954 & it came in to force in

1958. The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) was

adopted on 2nd November 1973 at IMO & covered various aspect of pollution from oil, chemical,

sewage & garbage & also incorporated much of the 1954 convention into it. However theconvention was too hard for the worlds states as only three states had ratified it by 1978. Therefore

in the same year the IMO held another conference in which they lightened up the provisions for

future contracting states by granting more time to implement provisions that were not concerned

with oil pollution. In response to a spate of tanker accidents in 1976-1977, the protocol of 1978 was

adopted relating to 1973 International Convention of Prevention of Pollution from Ship at a

conference on Tanker Safety and Pollution Prevention in February 1978. This protocol made a

number of changes to the Annex I of the convention. The new protocol required all tankers above

20000 dwt to be fitted with Segregated Ballast Tanks (SBTs). The protocol also required the SBT to

be located in such a way that it would help protect the cargo tanks in the event of an accident. As

the 1973 convention had not yet entered in force the 1978 protocol was absorbed into the parent

convention. The combined instrument is referred to as International Convention for Prevention of

Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the protocol of 1978, henceforth known as MARPOL

73/78. This instrument entered into force on 2nd November 1983. In 1997, a protocol was adopted to

add a new Annex VI.

The convention contains six technical annexes. The convention also stipulates special areas where

control on operational discharges are included.

The six technical Annexes are as follows:

Annex I: Regulation for Prevention of Pollution by Oil (entered into force 2nd October 1983)

This annex covers prevention of pollution by oil from operation discharges as well as accidental

causes. In 1992 amendments were made to the annex making in mandatory for new oil tankers to be

fitted with double hull. A phase-in sequence for existing was also introduced which was

subsequently revised in 2001 and 2003.

The annex also designates a few ecologically sensitive marine environments special areas where


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stricter discharge controls exist.

Annex II: Regulation for Control of Pollution from Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk

(entered into force 2nd October 1983)

Approximately 250 substances are evaluated & appended to the convention. Discharge of these

substance is allowed only to reception facilities until certain concentration & conditions are

complied with.

In any case, no discharge of residues containing noxious substances is permitted within 12 nautical

miles of the nearest land. More stringent discharge conditions exist for the Baltic & Black Sea

areas.

Annex III: Regulation for Prevention of Pollution from Harmful Substance Carried By Sea in

Packaged Form (entered into force 1st July 1992)

This annex contains general requirements for standard of packing, labelling, marking,documentation, stowage, quantity limitations, exceptions & notifications for preventing pollution

from harmful substances.

Annex IV: Prevention of Pollution By Sewage from Ships (entered into force 27 September

2003)

Annex V: Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships ( entered into force 31 December

1988)

This annex deals with different types of garbage & the distances from land and the manner in which

they can be disposed of. The requirements are much stricter in special areas. The most important

aspect of this annex is the complete ban on dumping of all forms of plastic at sea.

Annex VI: Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships (entered into force 19th May 2005)

This regulation deals with emission of sulphur dioxide & nitrogen oxides from ships exhaust as

well as emission of particulate matter & prohibit deliberate discharge of ozone depleting substances.

Stricter emission control exist for Emission Control Area.

One of the most important regulations in modern times & quite so because of the increasing

environmental consciousness of the general population MARPOL has taken huge leaps since being

merely the Oil Pollution Act to present day MARPOL convention. In recent years two regulations

of MARPOL has gained more importance over other conventions. They are the Annex I-

Regulation for Control of Oil Pollution from Ships & Annex VI Regulations for Prevention

of Pollution of Air from Ships.

Implementation


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Annex I requires that ships should control the oil pollution. For this purpose equipments known as

Oily Water Separators are fitted which process the bilge water & separate oil from them. Bilges in

the engine room always contain oil from leakages from pumps, pipelines etc. Kept on board they

could accumulate & endanger the stability of the ship. Hence an arrangement is made for pumping

them out. The limit set by Annex I is 15ppm of oil content, which is monitored by equipment &

pumped overboard. The oil is collected on board to be recieved by shore facilities. Several other

sections within the annex lay down different conditions for pump capacity, pipelines, emergency

procedures.

Inspite of providing these equipments some engineers onboard see these machineries as a

bottleneck & pump the bilges (sometimes even oily sludge) overboard through a temporary linewhich in marine circles is known as 'magic pipe'. The penalties for such offences are stiff.

Another very risky operation that could violate Annex I is during bunkering (taking fuel oil

onboard).

Many incidents of oil pollution have occurred due to negligence during bunkering. To make sure

such incidents dont occur special procedures have been developed & every company formulates its

own checklists & procedure. Apart from these procedures every bunker station onboard is provided

with a plan & equipments & chemicals to control & arrest the spread of oil in case any spill does

occur. This plan is known as SOPEP (Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan). This states the

procedures to be followed & duties of the ship staff should any oil spillage occur. But this plan is

not just limited to spillage occurring during bunkering, but can also be applied to other cases of

occurrence.

Apart from these major pollution causing incidents, there is also the possibility of pollution

occurring due to incidents known as Act of God. For such occurrences the tanker ships built after

1991 are required to have double hull to avoid any spillage in case of accidents like grounding,

collision etc.

Another major regulation is the Annex VI. This annex is concerned with controlling pollution of air

from ships. It has been proven through various fact finding procedures that ships amount to very

little air pollution. The major concern today is the production of greenhouse gases which are

primarily carbon emissions. Shipping emitted 200 million tonnes of carbon in 2000. The number


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might be huge when compared to that of aviation emissions but compare this number with total EU

emissions of 5 billion tonnes & one can certainly see the difference.

The major concern for shipping is sulphur emissions since ships burn low grade fuel. Shipping is

the leader in sulphur emissions. A reduction of sulphur emissions can be achieved only by using

high-value fuels which will increase shipping costs.

Carbon emission differs a lot in different types of ships. A reefer ship produces per sailed tonne

kilometre an average of 124 grams. This is considered clean if you note that this will be the

standard EU emissions for a passenger car weighing a tonne with passengers in it. For a ro/ro-ship

this emission if 96 grams, for an Ing-Tanker its 66 grams, for an container ship this emission is 25

grams.

Despite the consoling facts that the above two emissions can be reduced & controlled, one emission

that is difficult to control is the nitrous oxide emissions. Since many ships have low speed engines

with high pressure, temperature & time for combustion, there is a formation of toxic gases like

nitrous oxide known as NOx. This gas is poisonous & is one of the prime cancer causing gases.

Studies have been done to reduce the emission of this gas by modifying engine designs like

changing fuel injection timing, providing exhaust gas recirculation, introducing small quantities of

water into the combustion chamber etc. Based on these studies the regulation has been amended to

include the following.

Tier I

For engines installed on ships constructed on or after 1 st January 2000 & prior to 1st January 2011,

the following emission NOx control regulations apply

1.) 17.0 g/KWh when n is less than 130 rpm.

2.) 45.n(-0.2) g/KWh when n is 130 or more but less than 2,000 rpm.

3.) 9.8 g/KWh when n is 2,000 rpm or more.

Tier II

For engines installed on ships constructed on or after 1 st January 2011, the following emission NOx

control regulations apply


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2.) 44.n(-0.23) g/KWh when n is 130 or more but less than 2,000 rpm.

3.) 7.7 g/KWh when n is 2,000 rpm or more.

Tier III

For engines installed on ships constructed on or after 1 st January 2016, the following emission NOx

control regulations apply


2.) 9.n

(-0.2)

g/KWh when n is 130 or more but less than 2,000 rpm.3.) 2.0 g/KWh when n is 2,000 rpm or more.

ISPS

One of the most important codes in recent history has been in the ISPS (International Ship & Port-

Facility Security). Following the terrorist attack on World Trade Centre on September 11th 2001, the

IMO felt the need to devise a code to protect the ships & port facilities from such attacks. Of course

the WTC attack was the turning point in the formulation of this code but the shipping fraternity has

not been devoid of such attacks in the past. Below are some of similar attacks directly related to

shipping:

On October 7th, 1985, an Egyptian passenger liner sailing from Alexandria to Port Said was

hijacked by the members of Palestinian Liberation Front. One passenger was killed in the action.

On July 11th 1988, nine tourists aboard a Greek passenger ferry City of Poros, were gunned

down by Palestinian gunmen.

And many more......

Apparently SOLAS already had a chapter related to maritime safety, but safety is a totaly different

element from security. Hence the SOLAS Chapter XI was modified as Chapter XI-1 & a new sub

chapter Chapter XI-2 to enhance maritime safety was conceived which brought forth the ISPS code.


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Chapter XI-2 applies to all passenger & cargo ships above 500 gross tonnage including high speed

crafts, offshore drilling rigs & port facilities which cater to the needs of such ships.

The code consists of two parts A & B. Part A is compulsory while Part B is not as it is just a

guideline when implementing part A.

The general objectives of ISPS code as per IMO are as follows

1.) To establish an international framework, involving co-operation between Contracting

Governments, Government agencies, local administrations and the shipping and port

industries to detect and assess security threats and take preventive measures against

security incidents affecting ships or port facilities used in international trade;

2.) To establish the respective roles and responsibilities of all these parties concerned, at

the national and international level, for ensuring maritime security;

3.) To ensure the early and efficient collation and exchange of security related

information;

4.) To provide a methodology for security assessment so as to have in place plans and

procedures to react to changing security levels;

5.) To ensure confidence that adequate and proportionate maritime security measures are

in place.

Implementation of ISPS code:

The basic step of any security related mechanism is to make a risk assessment which identifies the

weaknesses in infrastructure & physical structures, databases & information systems,

communication & safety related equipments which can succumb to security breaches & thereby

pose a risk to the life of personnel. The two assessments carried out are SSA (Ship Security

Assessment) & PFSA (Port-Facility Security Assessment).

After the assessments are carried out & vulnerabilities identified the SSP (Ship Security Plan) &


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PFSP (Port Facility Security Plan) to mitigate the shortcomings are formed.

The SSA & PFSA are continuous & ongoing process which is essential to identify potential risks on

a concurrent basis & update the SSP & PFSP to include them as well.

Conclusion

It is clear that the IMO has covered significant milestones to make shipping smooth & safe for

everyone. But a lot remains to be done. Particularly the NOx emission regulations post 2016 is a

challenge for the engine manufacturers & there could even be a possibility of relaxing the

regulation in case the advancement is not possible. All in all, shipping today is a lot better & safer

than it used to be in the olden days


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Bibliography

www.dieselduck.ca

www.imo.org

SOLAS 74 2004 Consolidated Edition
http://www.dieselduck.ca/http://www.imo.org/http://www.dieselduck.ca/http://www.imo.org/

Conventions Addressing Maritime Safety & Environment Protection

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