Konstantinos Lentzos

Course: MG 3058 International Shipping Policy

Date: 18/102019
WP Due Date: 23/10/2019
Instructor: Peter J. Stavroulakis
Word count: 1665

“The IMO and its role in the

prevention of pollution from ships.”
 Contents

1. Introduction to the IMO

2. Convention
2.1 INTERVENTION
2.2 MARPOL
2.3 OPRC
2.4 OPRC-HNS
2.5 BWM and Antifouling of the hull convention
2.6 (LC) Dumping of Wastes and other Matter
2.7 Recycling of ships

3. Conclusion
1 Introduction to the IMO

IMO stands for International Maritime Organization and it is the specialized

division of the United Nations in terms of the maritime industry. IMO Was founded in

1948 in Geneva with the name of Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative

Organization and later in 1982 it was given the name International Maritime

Organization with the headquarters placed in London. The organization went in force

in 1958 and its first meeting held one year after. The IMO was established in order to

provide safety and security to the workers, to the ships and to the environment. We

try to achieve those goals by implementing the conventions but also forming new

with the help of all 178 member-states and the 3 associate states. The IMO
convention list is vast and for the purpose of this project, I will focus only to the

pollution problem caused by the maritime industry.

2 Conventions

2.1 INTERVENTION

INTERVENTION, International Convention Relating to Intervention on the

High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties adopted on November 29, 1969 entry

into force on May 6, 1975. This convention was adopted with a specific goal, to grant

the coastal states with specific rights and powers in order to take needed actions to

prevent, mitigate and eliminate a potential oil pollution incident. Due to the increasing

types of hazardous cargos transported apart from crude oil the committee decided in

1969 to include also other types substances transported via sea in the convention

that can introduce a very serious danger to the environment and threat the life of

humans and that of marine life. The coastal State is, however, empowered to take

only such action as is necessary, and after consultation from the interested parties

has been received. Interested parties are the flag state the ship flies under or the

state of the ship, owner of the vessel and or the owner of the cargo and when

deemed necessary the appointed independent experts for this purpose. But in case

the state takes such action exceeding the rights affirmed by the IMO then the coastal

state would have to pay compensation to the involved parties.

2.2 MARPOL

Almost 10 years MARPOL was in the discussion tables and finally adopted in

1973. In 1976-77 a series of tanker accidents lead to the adoption of the Protocol of

1978 and since the MARPOL convention of 1973 had not yet entered in to force the

Protocol absorbed the parent convention. The combination finally entered into force

on October 2, 1983. The convention was enriched with the Annex VI in 1997 and

entered the force in 2005. MARPOL similarly with INTERVENTION is an instrument

aimed to oil pollution prevention and includes 250 more dangerous and noxious

liquid substances that are transported on bulk and from now on allowed to be

discharged strictly to a specialized disposing facility. Furthermore, Annex III issued

detailed standards for packaging, marking, quantity limits and more for substances

transported packaged and not in bulk. Tankers from now on required to be

constructed with double hulls and those which did not had a specific timeframe to be

upgraded. This was the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez devastating accident in 1989

that claimed the life of numerous marine species. Annex V dealt with the problem of

unregulated garbage disposing in the ocean and set specific rules of how,where and

what types of garbage can be disposed in the ocean by the ships and banned

completely the disposal of any type of plastic in the sea. MARPOL’s last Annex the

VI introduced specific limits and standards on air pollution from ships. Limits for the

emission of nitrogen oxide and Sulphur oxide where introduced that harm the ozone

layer.
2.3 OPRC

OPRC is a convention also specialized in oil pollution matters, OPRC was

established on November 30, 1990 and went into force May 13, 1995. Full name,

International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation

(OPRC). IMO through this convention fulfilled the request of leading industrial states

for the development of further measures to prevent oil pollution from ships. This new

convention stated that the parties in the OPRC are required to establish measures

for dealing with pollution incidents either nationally or in cooperation with other

countries. Furthermore ships are required to carry oil pollution emergency plan

onboard the ship, the operators of offshore units under the jurisdiction of Parties are

also required to have oil pollution emergency plans or similar arrangements which

must be coordinated with national systems for responding promptly and effectively to

oil pollution incidents. Ships also need to alert the relevant coastline authorities for

the correct measures and procedures to be activated as the convention dictates. In

addition, coastline authorities required to be ready to act which means that a

stockpile of pollution combating materials, specialized trained personnel and a

strategic acting plan must already be present. This convention enables the IMO to

play a more strategic and coordinating role.

2.4 OPRC-HNS

Relevant to the above convention is the OPRC-HNS Protocol. The Protocol

on Preparedness, Response and Co-operation to pollution Incidents by Hazardous

and Noxious Substances that follows the principles of OPRC, but the major

differentiation is that this convention aims to the prevention and combating pollution

from substances other that oil, dangerous to the marine environment. In similar

fashion to the OPRC, OPRC-HNS follows the same strategy of prevention,

preparedness and response and was adopted on March 15, 2000 and put in force on

June 14, 2007. This protocol accounts for any substance carried by ship other than

oil which if for any reason is introduced to the marine ecosystems potentially will be

hazardous for the human health, harm marine organisms and damage ecosystems.

2.5 BWM and Antifouling of the Hull Convention

Pollution can also arise with other ways like introducing alien organisms to

other ecosystem via the ballast tanks of the ships, via the fouling of the hull and

anchor. Those organisms have devastating effects for the ecosystems in which they

enter. IMO in order to combat this phenomenon adopted the International

Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments

(BWM) in February 13, 2004 and went in to force on September 8, 2017. Through

BWM certain standards of ballast water management have been established. In a

summary the ships are required to have a ship specific plan for managing the ballast

water, discharge their ballast midocean but this practice serves as transitional phase

and eventually ships will required to install on board ballast water management and

treatment equipment. The phenomenon of alien species introduction increases

everyday with the volume of ships and cargoes increasing constantly which makes

the need for all the involved parties to follow this convention and not violate even a

single line. Contrary to the above International Convention on the Control of Harmful
Anti-fouling Systems on Ships convention which was adopted on October 5, 2001

and went into force on September 17, 2008 protects the organism that adhere to the

ship’s hull and anchor by preventing the ship owner to use antifouling paints and

substances on the hull in which are extremely harmful to the aquatic life. In this case

the shipowner must pay regularly a company to clean the hull in or out of the water.

In that way the protection of the aquatic environment is protected from both aspects.

2.6 (LC) Dumping of Wastes and other Matter

Humanity is treating irresponsibly waste for decades. Disposing wastes

incorrectly is one of the world’s biggest issues and for a long period time we thought

there is no effect on unloading millions of metric tons of waste and harmful material

in the ocean because the ocean is vast. But that is far from true and for that reason

IMO established the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping

of Wastes and Other Matter Adopted November 13, 1972, entry into force on August

30, 1975. This convention prohibits the dumping of all harmful and hazardous

materials and substances into the ocean by any man-made structure unless there is

specific permit issued. “Dumbing” is the definition of any deliberate disposal of

wastes and other matter at sea from ships, airplanes or any other man-made

structure. In 1996 the convention was enriched by a protocol that prohibits the

disposing of any material other than those in the list. The list consists of a handful of

materials known to be unharmful for the environment, some of them are dredged

material, sewage sludge, organic material of natural origin and other.

2.7 Recycling of Ships

A ships service is limited, most commonly a ship has a lifespan of 20 to 30

years. After the ship is decommissioned the owner is responsible for the safe and

non-environmentally threatening recycle procedure. That is mandatory since ships

do carry hazardous materials dangerous for humans and animals. IMO through the

Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound

Recycling of Ships introduced specific rules ensuring the recycling of a ship does not

pose a threat to humans or to the environment. This convention was adopted in May

15, 2009. Ship owners are now required to design construct operate and prepare the

ship for an environmentally friendly recycle which will neither downgrade the

operational efficiency of the ship nor it’s safety. Also, ships should carry an inventory

list with any hazardous material present and the recycling facilities must be

environmentally sound.

3 Conclusion

IMO’s role is to help member-states to cooperate effective and efficiently,

protect the human life but most importantly protect the marine environment. In

addition to the previous, IMO through the conventions will set new standards of

operation and through the new standards to push the limits of technology, make our

life easier more productive safer but most importantly have a smaller impact to the

environment which we violate since we, the human race formed societies. In that

way maybe the downward slope of the environment will stop and start recovering

before we destroy it completely and our selves along.

4 References

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL).
(n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/ListOfConventions/Pages/International-
Convention-for-the-Prevention-of-Pollution-from-Ships-(MARPOL).aspx
The International Convention Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of
Oil Pollution Casualties, 1969. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/ListOfConventions/Pages/International-
Convention-Relating-to-Intervention-on-the-High-Seas-in-Cases-of-Oil-Pollution-
Casualties.aspx
International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation
(OPRC). (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/ListOfConventions/Pages/International-
Convention-on-Oil-Pollution-Preparedness,-Response-and-Co-operation-
(OPRC).aspx
The Protocol on Preparedness, Response and Co-operation to pollution Incidents by
Hazardous and Noxious Substances, 2000 (OPRC-HNS Protocol). (n.d.). Retrieved
from http://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/ListOfConventions/Pages/Protocol-
on-Preparedness,-Response-and-Co-operation-to-pollution-Incidents-by-Hazardous-
and-Noxious-Substances-(OPRC-HNS-Pr.aspx
Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other
Matter. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/ListOfConventions/Pages/Convention-on-
the-Prevention-of-Marine-Pollution-by-Dumping-of-Wastes-and-Other-Matter.aspx
International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems on Ships.
(n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/ListOfConventions/Pages/International-
Convention-on-the-Control-of-Harmful-Anti-fouling-Systems-on-Ships-(AFS).aspx
International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water
and Sediments. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/ListOfConventions/Pages/International-
Convention-for-the-Control-and-Management-of-Ships%27-Ballast-Water-and-
Sediments-(BWM).aspx
The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound
Recycling of Ships. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/ListOfConventions/Pages/The-Hong-
Kong-International-Convention-for-the-Safe-and-Environmentally-Sound-Recycling-
of-Ships.aspx