What is MARPOL? What does it mean?

MARPOL is the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships. It means the safety regulations formulated by the International Maritime Organization to prevent and limit the discharge of oil and other harmful substances from ships from polluting the ocean in order to protect the marine environment. international conventions.

It was originally signed on February 17, 1973, but has not come into effect. The current convention includes the contents of the 1973 Convention and the 1978 Protocol, which came into effect on October 2, 1983. As of December 31, 2005, there were 136 parties to the Convention, and the total maritime tonnage of the contracting states accounted for 98% of the world's total maritime tonnage.

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships applies to ships that have the right to fly the flag of a contracting state and to ships that do not have the right to fly the flag of a contracting state but operate under the jurisdiction of another contracting state. Neither the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships shall be interpreted as derogating from or enlarging the sovereignty of a State Party over the seabed and its subsoil adjacent to its coasts for the purpose of the exploration and development of natural resources under international law.

Extended information

The 70th session of the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee adopted resolution MEPC.277(70) on October 28, 2016. The 2016 amendments to Annex V of the Convention on Causes of Pollution will officially enter into force on March 1, 2018. The amendments revise Article 4, Article 6, Article 10 and the appendix of the current Annex V, mainly involving the classification, discharge and recording of ship garbage.

The amendment applies to international navigation ships, coastal navigation ships, and fixed or floating platforms. In order to prevent ship garbage pollution and protect the marine environment, the amendment requires that solid bulk cargoes other than grains should be classified according to the standards in Appendix I of the amendment to determine whether they are harmful substances to the marine environment.

If the solid bulk cargo is a substance that is harmful to the marine environment, the cargo residue is Category K garbage. If it is a substance that is harmless to the marine environment, the cargo residue is Category J garbage. The ship should require the shipper to Declare whether the goods being consigned are harmful to the marine environment (see attachment 2 for the declaration format), and keep the declaration with the ship for at least two years.

Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia--MARPOL

Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia--International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships