MERCHANT SHIPPING NOTICE MSN 1720 (M+F)
THE MERCHANT SHIPPING (PREVENTION OF POLLUTION BY GARBAGE) REGULATIONS 1998
Notice to Shipowners, Masters and Skippers of Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels, Certifying Authorities and Surveyors.
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Summary This Notice provides information on the requirement for certain vessels to display placards, carry a garbage management plan and maintain a garbage record book for the vessel. Key Points: -
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Introduction
1. In 1995, the International Maritime Organisation adopted, by resolution 65(37), amendments to Annex V of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL 73/78), which require that every ship of 400 tons gross tonnage and above and every ship certified to carry 15 persons or more shall carry a Garbage Management Plan and a Garbage Record Book. In addition, every ship of 12 metres or more in overall length shall display placards to notify the crew and passengers of the ship’s disposal requirements.
2. A new regulation 9 to Annex V of MARPOL 73/78 entered into force on 1 July 1997 for new ships and 1 July 1998 for ships built before 1 July 1997.
Application
3. This Merchant Shipping Notice should be read in conjunction with the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Garbage) Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1377).
4. The requirement for garbage record books (Regulation 11(9)) may be waived for:
a) a ship which is certified to carry 15 persons or more, if engaged on a voyage of one hour or less in duration; or,
b) a fixed or floating platform while it is engaged in exploration and exploitation of the sea-bed.
5. In the case of 4b) above, the manifest record of garbage passed to supply vessels for shipment ashore is acceptable in lieu of a garbage record book. In addition, the Master of a supply vessel may not be able to obtain a receipt from the platform. In such cases, the manifest record will suffice.
6. Receipts issued under the Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991, (SI 1991/2839) will be of sufficient evidence to satisfy the requirement to obtain a receipt as set out in the Merchant Shipping Notice.
7. It should also be noted that the disposal of food waste ashore is governed by the Diseases of Animals (Waste Food) Order 1973, (SI 1973/1936).
8. The attached Schedule 1 should be used to develop garbage management plans for each vessel, in compliance with regulation 10 of the above Regulations.
9. The attached Schedule 2 gives the required format for the garbage record book, as required to be carried by regulation 11(1) of the above Regulations. The garbage record book should be either in this format or of equivalent standard. Copies of garbage record books can be obtained from HMSO (ISBN No 0 11 552019 8).
MSAS(D) Tel: 01703 329191 [MS/I0/25/41] June 1998 © Copyright 1998 |
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SCHEDULE 1
GUIDELINES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF GARBAGE MANAGEMENT PLANS
1 Introduction
These guidelines provide direction on complying with the mandatory requirements for the development of a ship’s garbage management plan and are intended to assist the shipowner/operator in the implementation of regulation 9(2) of Annex V of MARPOL 73/78. The Garbage Management Plan should be prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Merchant Shipping Regulations and the IMO “Guidelines for the implementation of Annex V of MARPOL 73/78”1.
A ship’s garbage management plan should contain a list of the particular ship’s equipment and arrangements for the handling of garbage, and may contain extracts from and/or references to existing company instructions.
2 Regulatory Requirements
Regulation 9(2) of Annex V of MARPOL 73/78 reads as follows:
“Every ship of 400 tons gross tonnage and above, and every ship which is certified to carry 15 persons or more, shall carry a garbage management plan which the crew shall follow. This plan shall provide written procedures for collecting, storing, processing and disposing of garbage, including the use of the equipment on board. It shall also designate the person in charge of carrying out the plan. Such a plan shall be in accordance with the guidelines developed by the Organisation and written in the working language of the crew.”
3 Prevention of Pollution by Garbage
To achieve cost-effective and environmentally sound results, many garbage management planners use a combination of three complementary techniques to manage garbage:
.1 source reduction;
.2 recycling; and
.3 disposal.
When requisitioning stores and provisions, shipping companies should encourage their suppliers to apply the substitutionary principle in order to reduce, to the greatest possible extent and at an early stage, the generation of garbage on board ships. The ship’s garbage is made up of distinct categories, some of which are addressed in MARPOL 73/78, whilst others may be addressed locally, nationally or regionally, ego domestic, operational, cargo-associated, food and maintenance wastes. Each category should be evaluated separately to determine the best waste management.
4 Matters to be addressed in the Garbage Management Plan
1 Designate the person in charge of carrying out the plan
- In accordance with the regulation, a person shall be designated in the garbage management plan to be responsible for implementing the procedures within the plan.
- This person should be assisted by departmental staff to ensure that the collection, separation and processing of garbage is efficient in all areas of the ship, and that the procedures aboard are carried out in accordance with the garbage management plan.
2 Procedures for collecting garbage
- Identify suitable receptacles for collection and separation.*
- Identify locations for receptacles, collection and separation stations.*
- Describe the process of how garbage is transported from the source of generation to the collection and separation stations.
- Describe the process of how garbage will be handled between collection and separation stations commensurate with the following:
.1 needs of reception facilities, taking into account possible local recycling arrangements;
.2 on-board processing;
.3 storage; and/or,
.4 disposal.
- Describe the training or education programmes to facilitate collection of garbage.
3 Procedures for processing garbage
- Identify personnel responsible for the operation of the equipment.
- Identify available processing devices and their capacities.
- Identify location of processing devices and stations.
- Identify the categories of garbage that will be processed by each of the available processing devices.
- Describe how garbage will be handled between primary processing stations and the storage or disposal stations.
- Describe processing procedures used commensurate with the following:
.1 needs of reception facilities, taking into account possible local recycling arrangements;
.2 storage; and/or,
.3 disposal at sea.
- Describe the training or education programmes in use to facilitate the processing of garbage.
- Identify available operating and maintenance procedures. (This may be done by reference to documents available on board).
4 Procedures for storing garbage
- Identify the location, the intended use and the capacity of storage stations for each category of garbage.
- Describe how garbage will be handled between storage stations and disposal commensurate with the following:
.1 discharge to reception facilities, taking into account possible local recycling arrangements; and/or,
.2 disposal at sea.
- Describe the training or education programmes in use to facilitate the storing of garbage.
5 Procedures for disposing of garbage
- Describe the ship's procedures to ensure compliance with the requirements of Annex V of MARPOL 73/78 for disposal of garbage.
IMO Sales No. IMO-656E
* Separation of garbage for the purposes of these Guidelines is considered part of the collection process. Separation may take place at the source or at a separate designated station.
SCHEDULE 2
FORM OF GARBAGE RECORD BOOK
1 Introduction
In accordance with Regulation 9 of Annex V of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 (MARPOL 73/78), a record is to be kept of each discharge operation or completed incineration. This includes discharges at sea, to reception facilities, or to other ships.
2 Garbage and garbage management
Garbage includes all kinds of food, domestic and operational waste, excluding fresh fish and parts thereof, generated during the normal operation of the vessel and liable to be disposed of continuously or periodically, except those substances which are defined or listed in other annexes to MARPOL 73/78 (such as oil, sewage or noxious liquid substances). The Garbage Management Plan for the vessel should be referred to for relevant information.
3 Description of garbage
The garbage is to be grouped into the following categories for the purposes of the entries in the record book:
1. Plastics.
2. Floating dunnage, lining or packaging material.
3. Ground-down paper products, rags, glass, metal, bottles, crockery, etc.
4. Paper products, rags, glass, metal, bottles, crockery, etc.
5. Food waste, and/or,
6. Incinerator ash.
4 Entries in the Garbage Record Book
Entries in the Garbage Record Book, as regards the particulars stated, shall be made on each of the following occasions:
(a) When garbage is discharged into the sea
- Date and time of discharge
- Position of ship (latitude and longitude)
- Category of garbage discharged
- Estimated amount discharged for each category in m3
- Signature of the officer in charge of theoperation
(b) When garbage is discharged to reception facilities ashore or to other ships:
- Date and time of discharge
- Port facility, or name of the receiving ship
- Category of garbage discharged
- Estimated amount discharged for each category in m3
- Signature of the officer in charge of the operation
(c) When garbage is incinerated:
- Date and time of start and stop of incineration
- Position of the ship (latitude and longitude)
- Estimated amount incinerated in m3
- Signature of the officer in charge of the incineration
(d) Accidental or other exceptional discharge of garbage
- Time of occurrence
- Port or position of the ship at time of occurrence
- Estimated amount in m3 and category of garbage
- Circumstances of disposal, escape or loss, the reason therefore and general remarks.
4.1 Receipts
The master should obtain from the operator of port reception facilities, or from the master of ship receiving the garbage, a receipt or certificate specifying the estimated amount of garbage transferred. The receipts or certificates must be kept on board the ship with the Garbage Record Book for two years.
4.2 Amount of garbage
The amount of garbage before and after processing on board should be estimated in m3, if possible separately according to category. It is recognised that the accuracy of estimating amounts of garbage is left to interpretation. Volume estimates will differ before and after processing. Some processing procedures may not allow for a usable estimate of volume, eg the continuous processing of food waste. Shipboard procedures adopted in accordance with IMO recommended guidance for the handling, storage and processing of garbage may, on some vessels (eg ferries) give rise to plastics not being segregated and therefore an estimate of their quantity being impossible. Also, weight measurement, rather than volumetric measurement, may be a more appropriate way of estimating and recording amounts of processed garbage. Such variations will continue to be acceptable.
4.3 Record of garbage discharges
An example of the required format for recording garbage discharges is reproduced on the next page.
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