HOW TO COMPLY WITH MARPOL ANNEX V

Starting from first day of the year 2013, the amendments to the fifth annex to MARPOL Convention mean that the shippers would have some new responsibilities relating to the classification of the cargo affecting the crew's ability to discharge the cargo residues and also wash the water directly into the marine environment. They will have to take into consideration whether or not the cargo they transport and, consequently, the cargo residues would be considered HME, standing for the "harmful to the marine environment".

The present booklet was prepared and released with the ultimate intention of the authors to set out all applicable requirements plus the process and concept of classification of the different cargoes as HME cargo. The Annex V to the MARPOL Convention primarily controls the discharge of the wash waters plus any non-recoverable residues - it is classed as "garbage" and falls under the controls that have been specified in Reg. 4.1.3 & 6.1.2 of the recent MARPOL amendments.

Here are the criteria governing the discharge of the cargo residues that are commonly contained there in the wash water - no cargo residues shall be discharged less than 12 nm from the nearest land/ice shell, and no discharge within the six so-called "Special Areas" specifically defined in the text of the Convention...