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Pollution

The MARPOL annexes

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MARPOL is the international convention on pollution from ships. Say "MARPOL" on a broking desk today and most people think of Annex VI, because Annex VI is the one that affects the price. But it is only one of six annexes (separate parts of the convention). The other five are where most inspection faults, record books and criminal cases come from. Each annex controls different substances, and they came into force decades apart. A flag state (the country where a ship is registered) can sign up to some of them and not others.

One convention, six separate regimes

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships was adopted on 2 November 1973. It never came into force in that form. A 1978 Protocol took it over, and the combined text, which everyone calls MARPOL 73/78, came into force on 2 October 1983. Annex VI came much later, through a 1997 Protocol.

This structure matters. Annexes I and II are mandatory for every country that joins the convention. Annexes III, IV, V and VI are optional. So a country can be part of MARPOL without accepting all of it. In practice the major flags have accepted all six. But this is why the right question about a specific duty is never "is this ship MARPOL compliant". It is always "what does the ship's flag require, and what will the port state enforce". The port state is the country whose port the ship is in.

AnnexWhat it controlsIn forceWhat it produces on board
IOil2 October 1983IOPP certificate, Oil Record Book, oily water separator and the 15 ppm limit
IINoxious liquid substances (harmful liquid chemicals) carried in bulk2 October 1983 Cargo Record Book, and a manual of procedures and equipment. Applies to chemical tankers
IIIHarmful substances in packages1 July 1992 Marking and paperwork for marine pollutants, together with the IMDG Code
IVSewage27 September 2003Sewage treatment plant or holding tank, ISPP certificate
VGarbage31 December 1988Garbage management plan, Garbage Record Book, notices on board
VIAir pollution19 May 2005IAPP certificate, bunker delivery notes, fuel samples, the sulphur limit

Annex I is where the criminal cases are

Annex I covers oil. That means the cargo of a tanker, and also the oily bilge water and sludge from the engine room of every ship. Oily water may only go overboard through equipment that brings the oil content below 15 parts per million. Every transfer, discharge and disposal must be written in the Oil Record Book.

That book is why Annex I leads to criminal cases, not just inspection faults. Some crews fit a pipe that goes around the separator, known in the trade as a magic pipe. Nobody finds it by watching the sea. Inspectors find it by comparing the record book with the tank measurements and the equipment. The charge is usually for the false entry in the book, not for the discharge itself. The port state carries out this kind of enforcement. It affects the master and the chief engineer personally, as well as the company.

For a chartering desk this is background, not a direct risk, with one exception. A ship detained over an Annex I fault cannot sail. The detention also goes on the same record a charterer reads when deciding whether to use the ship again.

Annex V changed direction in 2013

The garbage rules used to be a list of things you may not throw overboard. The revised Annex V, in force from 1 January 2013, reversed this. Now throwing garbage into the sea is banned except in the specific cases the annex allows. These are mainly food waste, some cargo residues and a short list of others. Each has conditions on distance from land and the ship's speed.

The commercial part of this is cargo residues, and a dry cargo desk should know it exists. Annex V decides what may be washed or swept out of a hold, where, and whether the residue counts as harmful to the sea. Sometimes the answer is that it must go ashore to a reception facility at the discharge port. Reception facilities cost money and take time. Whether the charterer or the owner pays is a question for the charterparty. The convention does not answer it.

Annex VI is the one that changes the freight cost

Annex VI controls emissions to the air. It is the newest annex, it changes fastest, and it is the only one that regularly changes what a voyage costs.

Its best-known rule is the sulphur limit: 0.50% by mass worldwide, and 0.10% inside a designated emission control area. It also has the nitrogen oxide tiers. These depend on when an engine was built, not on the voyage. And it has rules on substances that damage the ozone layer and on volatile organic compounds.

Since 2023 it also has rules on carbon. Amendments came into force on 1 November 2022. From 1 January 2023 they required ships to calculate an Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index, and to collect data for a yearly carbon intensity indicator and rating. These appear in charterparty negotiations as EEXI and CII. The rules are complex, but the commercial point is simple. The rating depends on how the ship is operated. Under a time charter, the charterer decides how the ship is operated. But the certificate belongs to the owner. Every CII clause in use tries to divide that responsibility between the owner and the charterer.

Special areas, which are not emission control areas

Several annexes name special areas where the discharge rules are stricter than the general rules. These include the Mediterranean, the Baltic, the Black Sea, the Red Sea, the Gulfs area, Antarctic waters and others. Each annex lists its own areas, and each has its own start date.

These are not the same as the emission control areas under Annex VI. Mixing the two up is the usual mistake. A special area under Annex I or Annex V limits what may go into the water. An emission control area under Annex VI limits what may come out of the funnel, and so which fuel grade is in the tank. The Mediterranean is both, and that is why people keep confusing them.

What a broker actually needs from this

A broker needs three things, and they are much narrower than the whole convention.

Which annex is involved. "A MARPOL issue at the discharge port" could be an argument about sludge disposal, hold washing residue that has to go ashore, or a fuel sample that failed its test. The fix, the delay and the party who pays are different in each case.

Whether it is a cost or a condition. Annex VI adds a number to the voyage estimate. The other annexes mostly put a duty on the ship. They only affect the deal when something goes wrong, or when a reception facility charge appears on the port costs account.

Whether the record book is clean. The record books are the first thing an inspector reads. An inspection fault recorded under pollution prevention is the category most likely to point to a lasting problem on board, not a single mistake.

References

Emission control areasTen areas where the fuel a ship may burn has a stricter limit than the global one. Which lines are exact, which are traced, and which do not apply yet. Bunkers and fuel gradesTwo fuel grades, sometimes three, each with its own price. The largest number on a voyage estimate is also the one nobody guarantees. Ballast water managementEvery ship carries water it does not mean to move. Two sets of rules now control it, and meeting the first set does not satisfy the second. Port state control and detentionsA detained ship cannot do its job. What an inspection records, and how to read a ship's record without judging it on a single inspection.

Neptune Atlas

Pollution prevention is one of the deficiency categories in the inspection history Neptune Atlas holds on the vessel record, so you can see a hull with repeated findings in that area before you agree a fixture, not after. Every paid plan starts with 7 free days. A card is needed to start them, and cancelling before they end costs nothing.

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