Reception Facilities Briefing

Issue Summary

In order to minimise the environmental impact of shipping and for owners and masters to meet the highest possible environmental standards it is important for all parties to international conventions to meet their obligations. Under the MARPOL convention their are coastal state obligations to provide adequate reception facilities for various wet and dry waste streams.

For the dry bulk trades there is a particular issue with regard to MARPOL Annex V and the categorising of dry cargo residue as garbage, and the extension of the definition to cargo hold washing water. This is particularly problematic in special areas where the discharge of garbage is generally prohibited. The recent coming into effect of the Gulfs and Mediterranean special areas is of particular concern for the dry bulk trades with regard to the ships' ability to handle and store cargo hold washings and the provision of port reception facilities for such 'wet garbage'.

Intercargo Policy

Reception facilities for liquid and solid wastes in ports have been an IMO and Industry concern for a number of years. There is a balancing act to be struck and Intercargo believes:

Facilities must exist and be in line with MARPOL requirements;
Facilities should be provided at a cost to encourage the ship to meet its MARPOL commitments but not at an excessive charge;
The facilities must be used by the Master for the sake of the environment, who should at all times, maintain the record-keeping required under the MARPOL convention;
There should be no undue compulsion to use and pay for the facilities if for operational reasons, the ship has only limited quantities of waste which can be economically discharged at a subsequent port and
The facilities should be publicly advertised.

In addition we encourage the reporting of inadequate waste reception facilities using the appropriate IMO form, MEPC.1/Circ.469/Rev.1, which can be downloaded below:

MEPC.1/Circ.469/Rev.1

Summary of Recent Developments

Intercargo submitted two papers (co-sponsored by BIMCO) asking the committee for clarity with regard to the treatment of dry cargo residues and hold washing water as garbage under the provisions of Annex V. One paper (MEPC 59/6/7) stressed the impracticality of handling and storing washing water onboard, the inadequacy of PRFs for such a waste streams and the problems this poses for the industry with particular reference to special areas. The other (MEPC 59/9) made specific reference to the Gulfs and Mediterranean special areas that recently became effective in this regard, asking the committee to issue a circular allowing the discharge of hold washing water in these areas when >12 miles from shore given the absence of PRF.

The committee agreed with the main points raised and that the issue needed further work to understand the effects of cargo residue in washing water and how it should be controlled. They also agreed with the proposal to issue a circular allowing discharge in the Gulf and Mediterranean special areas until the issue is clarified, see below.

MEPC.1 Circ.675 DISCHARGE OF CARGO HOLD WASHING WATER IN THE GULFS AREA AND MEDITERRANEAN SEA AREA UNDER MARPOL ANNEX V

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Last Updated on Thursday, 27 August 2009 08:39