Marpol Annex 5 states for the regulation and prevention of marine pollution due to ships garbage.

It came
into force on 31st December 1988 with new improved regulation for disposing garbage at sea. The
original Marpol annex 5 ( 1988 version ) only prohibits disposal of plastics at sea with regulation for other
garbage in coastal waters.

The revised Marpol annex 5 that came into force on January 1 2013 prohibits disposal of all garbage at
sea with exception of food and other environment friendly waste under specific regulations. The law also
allow for disposing waste ( garbage ) at sea under emergency condition to maintain stability and safety of
life. These law are further revised under 2018 amendment as discussed below.

What can be Considered as Garbage?

The Marpol annex 5 states the definition of garbage to be all domestic, victual and operational waste
including food; that is generated on board ship during its normal operation. In simple English, garbage
can be anything which is plastic, packing material, paper products, rags, metal, glass, crockery, cargo
residue, food waste, incinerator ash and many others; which does not came under other Marpol annexes
such as sewage, oil and noxious substance in liquid form.

According to the amended annex 5 ( Regulation 3 ) of 2013; All garbage

on board ship have to be grouped into following categories:
1. Plastics:- Any garbage that contains, consist or include plastic in any form such as synthetic ropes,
net, poly-bags, packing material etc came under this category.
2. Waste food product:- Any fresh or spoiled food can be discharged at sea; following condition for
discharge under Marpol annex 5.
3. Cooking Oil:- All cooking oil of any form ( natural or animal ); which is used for cooking are prohibited
to discharge at sea.
4. Domestic Waste:- Anything that you produce during stay in accommodation came under domestic
waste such as canes, bottles, paper, board, food packets etc.
5. Incinerator waste:- All ash generated by the incinerator other than burning plastic came into this
category.
6. Fishing Gear:- Any device or equipment which are / can be used for the purpose of capturing fish
came under this category.
7. Animal waste:- Dead body either in the form of meat, body or animal parts came under this category.
Animal waste are also referred to this category which can be discharged at sea under specific
circumstances.
8. Operation & Cargo Waste:- Operation wastes are solid waste such as cleaning agent, additives and
washing water collected during normal operation of the ship. While cargo wastes are the residual
cargo left after cargo operation. They can be discharged at sea provided they follow certain
requirements.
9. Mixed Waste:- When different grades or category of garbage is mixed they are called mixed waste.
There wastes are not allowed to discharge under normal condition but allowed with more stringent
condition / requirement applied.

Marpol Annex 5 Regulation 3 Guidelines for Outside Special

Area
Disposal of all allowed categories must be kept as low as possible at site as far as possible from the
nearest land; and must be prohibited if this distance is less than:-

 25 Nautical miles for packing material, dunnage and other such garbage.
 12 Nautical mile for garbage containing food waste, paper product, bottles, glass, crockery, metal etc.
 All other garbage as stated in the sub regulation b-2 are permitted only if passed through a grinder and
discharge; minimum 3 nautical mile from nearest land.
 Cleaning agent and additives used for ship operation are allowed to discharge at any condition; but
advised to do so as far as possible from the nearest land or floating platforms engaged in offshore
industries.

Special Areas
Special Areas established under the Marpol annex 5 are:-

1. Red Sea
2. Black Sea
3. The Baltic Area
4. Mediterranean Sea
5. Gulf Areas
6. North Sea
7. The Wider Caribbean ( Reason including Caribbean sea and Gulf of Mexico ).
8. Antarctic Region
Special Mandatory mode of pollution prevention and control by garbage is adopted under annex 5; to
safeguard the ecological and oceanographic structure of these regions. These areas are recognized or
marked out on the basis of maritime traffic, water exchange, ice condition and number of endangered
species.

Garbage Record Book

Marpol Annex 5 states that all ships with more than 15 crew with more than 100 gross ton along with fixed
/ floating sea platforms are required to have a garbage management plan. The plan must be made
following the guidelines of IMO and should contain written procedures; for collection, storage, reduction,
processing and disposal of garbage on board at ship or sea platforms.

The plan must be developed and available in the working language of the crew with a person responsible
for maintaining it. The plan also call for maintaining a garbage record book for ships above 400 gross
tonnage with minimum of 15 crew. It is required to make entry in this book after each garbage discharge;
into sea, to the reception facility ashore, incinerated and during accidental discharge or emergency.

Each Garbage Record Book must include the name of the ship, IMO, date, time, ship position, estimated
discharge or incinerated. Each complete page should be then get signed by the master and kept on board
ship for at least next 2-3 years for inspection.
Image Created By Ciacho5 [CC BY-SA 3.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons

How to fill in the New Garbage Record Book?

Under Latest 2018 amendment of Marpol annex 5; the garbage record book is separated into two; ( one
regular and other specially for cargo residue ). The regular record book is also revised to add a new
category i.e E-Waste foe all electronic waste including electronic component, equipment, parts and
accessories. All other detail including the procedure of filling garbage recored book is remained similar
under revised MEPC 277 (70) Resolution.

For Example; suppose we have discharged some garbage to the reception facility ashore. Now to fill the
record book we will start from date and time for discharge in the left most column. Name of ship / port at
second followed by discharge category at third and amount of discharge at the forth column.

At the last designated officer have to sign at the right most column of the book. In some condition such as
incinerated or discharge at sea; you also have to fill the fifth, sixth and seventh column of the garbage
record book. For part two of the amended garbage record book you also need to enter the discharge start
and end position of ship.

Marpol Annex 5 – 2018 Amendments

The revised Marpol Annex 5 under regulation MEPC 70 came into effect on march 1,2018. The main
change included addition of additional category ( E-Waste ) in the garbage record book; with the added
criteria to determine and judge cargo residue based on the extent of harm they do to the marine
environment.

The new law put different restriction on different types of cargo residue; for example residue containing
less harmful substance for the environment have lesser restriction on discharge than of other harmful
residues. The whole structure of garbage record book is revised to make separate parts for cargo residue
of bulk / cargo ship. And another set for the all other garbage applicable for whole merchant fleet (
Meaning all kinds of ships ).

Apart from these major changes only one more gradual change is made in the amended version other
than simple revisions such as definition change ( Changed but almost same ) and renumbering paragraph
of the annex. That one more important change is the revision of categories under the garbage record
book to add one major and two minor categories in the list.

The new categories of Garbage Record Book Include:

1. Plastic
2. Domestic Waste
3. Incinerator
4. Waste Food Products
5. Cooking Oil
6. Animal Carcasses or waste
7. Operational Waste
8. Fishing instruments
9. E-Waste ( NEW )
10. Cargo residue non harmful to marine environment ( NEW )
11. Cargo residue harmful to marine environment ( NEW )