It is internationally accepted that marine oil pollution comes primarily from either accidental or operational discharge of oil by ships. The former, occurring as a result of collision or grounding incidents, would normally lead to severe oil spills while the latter occurs occasionally at a lower pollution level. However, with the trend of larger-sized vessels and increasing awareness on marine environment protection, the necessity to control operational discharge of oil should not be overlooked. As previous experience suggested in claims regarding operational oil spills, shipowners will face not only clean-up cost and damage compensation, but also administrative penalties including detention or fines. Some cases would even result in criminal charges on owners and crews.

I.      MARPOL requirements

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) plays an outstanding role in preventing pollution of the marine environment by ships. Annex I, as one of the earliest regulations that entered into force, covers prevention of pollution by oil from operational measures as well as from accidental discharges.

As defined in the convention, harmful substances are those substances that, if introduced into the sea, is liable to create hazards to human health, to impair living resources and marine life, to damage amenities or to interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea, including those controlled under the convention. Discharge, in relation to harmful substances or effluents containing such substances, means any release howsoever caused from a ship and includes any escape, disposal, spilling, leaking, pumping, emitting or emptying.

Annex I also makes specific requirements for control of operational discharge of oil from machinery spaces of all ships and from cargo areas of oil tankers. Discharge outside special areas and within special areas is provided in detail as well. This is where the requirements on environment protection come from when we talk about oily-water separators, 15 ppm, oil record book and clean ballast in practice.

The convention has set limits for the operation of oil discharge from a technical perspective. Ships should in its production and operation be careful with detailed requirements and any violation would probably lead to incidents of operational oil spill.

II.     Types of operational oil spillage

The occurrence of operational oil spills to a certain extent depends on the maintenance condition of the ship equipment and the capabilities of the crew, and the following are some possible situations.

1.      Failure to maintain a pressure control during lightering or failure in measuring/observing the fuel level in the tank.

2.      Running short-handed during bunkering or topping off, failure of high-level alarm leading to escape of oil.

3.      Leakage of lubricating oil when it is temporarily stored on deck or when transferring oil from deck to tank.

4.      Leakage due to poor maintenance and old age of ship equipment and exceptional discharge of slops.

5.      Overflow and exceptional discharge of bilge water generated from cleaning of ship equipment.

6.      Failure of oily-water separator leading to discharge of substandard oily water.

7.      Corrosion or damage of vent piping that passes through cargo tanks, caissons or ballast tanks leading to mixture of oil and water.

8.      Failure to segregate ballast piping and fire extinguishing piping from slop tank piping leading to exceptional discharge.

9.      Discharge into the sea water from tank cleaning before proper processes.

10.  Unintentional or intentional discharge of sewage mixed with oil due to the crew members’ weak consciousness on safety and environment protection.

III.    Standard procedures to report an oil spill

Although the emergency response mechanism is soundly established as per requirements of both international conventions and systems of specific shipping companies, the Association has found in previous cases that some masters and companies have not attached enough importance to timely reports on incidents.

It is the six technical annexes that managers tend to focus on while the convention itself may be overlooked. It is provided in Article 8 of the convention that:

“(1). A report of an incident shall be made without delay to the fullest extent possible in accordance with the provision of Protocol I to the present Convention.

(2). Each Party to the Convention shall:

(a). make all arrangements necessary for an appropriate officer or agency to receive and process all reports on incidents; and

(b). notify the Organization with complete details of such arrangements for circulation to other Parties and Member States of the Organization.

(3). Whenever a Party receives a report under the provisions of the present article, that Party shall relay the report without delay to:

(a). the Administration of the ship involved; and

(b). any other State which may be affected.”

Apart from above provisions, Protocol I of the convention has also made specific requirements on the duty to report that the master or other person having charge of the ship shall report particulars of the incident without delay and to the fullest extent possible om accordance with the provisions of the Protocol, including those on when to make reports, contents of report, supplementary report and reporting procedures. On the basis of these provisions the emergency response plan is prepared by companies and the list of national operational contact points is updated by IMO.

In fact, it is not difficult to understand why these provisions are made. In the event of an oil spill or an incident involving pollution to surrounding waters, ships and crews are often incapable of removing the oil with limited tools and resources, not to mention personal safety issues in letting down a boat. Therefore, the convention requires masters and managers to report in a timely manner so that emergency measures and shore-based resources can be mobilized to reduce impact on the marine environment. There are many cases where masters and companies are busy coordinating the removal of oil and forget to or deliberately postpone the reporting, and consequently subject to fines or criminal charges for deliberate discharge by the administration of littoral states.

IV.    Penalties

The convention has also provided explicitly that “any violation of the requirements of the convention shall be prohibited and sanctions shall be established therefor under the law of the Administration of the ship concerned wherever the violation occurs. Any violation of the requirements of the convention within the jurisdiction of any Party to the convention shall be prohibited and sanctions shall be established therefor under the las of that Party”.

The applicable laws for incidents that violate the requirements of the Convention are covered by the laws of flag states and the laws of contracting parties. The former is applicable when the pollution incident happens on the high seas and reported to flag state administrations, whilst the latter is applicable if the incident happens in waters under the jurisdiction of a contracting party. Besides, the convention requires that the penalties specified under the law of a party shall be in adequate severity to discourage violations of the convention and shall be equally severe irrespective of where the violations occur. If such incidents occur in waters under the jurisdiction of non-parties, there will certainly be local laws on corresponding penalties.

The laws on marine environment protection or water resources protection formulated by each contracting party are, on the one hand, compliance to the MARPOL Convention, and on the other, the basis of punishment for local violations. The provisions and enforcement vary in different countries, and costs for operational oil spill incidents can be high in some. Moreover, masters often report to the company immediately upon the occurrence of a violation, and both the ship and the company will be involved in follow-up emergency management. The company or the person in charge, if there is a major negligence, may also be imposed of administrative penalties or criminal liabilities.

V.       Advice to Members

The 164 contracting parties to MARPOL Annex I has included most of the coastal countries where ports are at. With improved awareness on environment protection and development of technology that monitors marine environment, the occurrence of operational oil spills can be easily spotted by aircrafts or drones of relevant administrations. Meanwhile, with the authorization granted by the convention, experienced PSC inspection officials can tell whether there has been any spill simply by the condition of the equipment and the records kept on board and may even find evidence of deliberate discharge. Therefore, members and ships are recommended to take below measures to prevent such incidents.

First of all, maintain a good condition of ship machinery and equipment to control pollution incidents of ships from the outset.

Second, try as far as possible to select crew members with proficiency and sense of responsibility. Implement a strict system and practice emergency drills carefully.

Third, companies and masters should regularly carry out safety and environment protection training for crew members to establish awareness of environment protection and prevent intentional discharge.

Finally, upon occurrence of an operational oil spill, report to relevant administration, the company and P&I club immediately so that early measures can be taken to prevent serious consequences.

For more information, please contact your manager at the Club.