: I am making this statement to fulfil obligations
relating to the implementation of amendments to internationally
agreed merchant shipping requirements into UK domestic law. These
requirements will be implemented into UK law by way of ambulatory
reference provisions in secondary legislation. The ambulatory
reference provisions give direct effect in the UK to these
amendments and, in advance of those amendments taking effect in the
UK, the Secretary of State has agreed to publish them by way of a
Parliamentary Statement to both Houses of Parliament.
This statement relates specifically to amendments agreed in the
International Maritime Organization (IMO) to the
International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from
Ships 1973 (MARPOL)
and the International Code for the Construction and Equipment of
Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk (IBC
Code).
IMO
Resolution MEPC.314(74) amends regulations 1 and 10 of Annex V to
MARPOL (which relates to the prevention of pollution by
garbage from ships) to allow the use of electronic
record-keeping. The requirements for the format and content of a
ship’s record books under Annex V are unchanged but operators may
now choose whether these records are made and kept in electronic
or hard copy form.
The amendment to regulation 10 is implemented by updating the
reference to regulation 10.3 of Annex V in regulation 12(2)(a) of
the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from
Ships) Regulations 2020 (SI No. 2020/621). This is achieved
by way of the ambulatory reference provision in regulation 4 of
those Regulations.
The amendment to regulation 1 (definition of ‘electronic record
book’) applies by virtue of the reference to it in regulation 10.
The amendments come into force on 1 October 2020.
IMO
Resolution MEPC.315(74) amends regulations 1 and 13, and
Appendices 4 and 6 of Annex II to
MARPOL. The amendments insert requirements in relation to
high viscosity products which, in certain specified areas, will
require a cargo tank prewash at the port of unloading until the
tank is empty, the residue of which must be discharged to a port
reception facility.
The amendments to regulations 13 and Appendix 4 are implemented
by updating the respective references to these provisions in
regulations 24(2)(d) and 28(2) of the Merchant Shipping
(Prevention of Pollution from Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk)
Regulations 2018 (SI
No. 2018/68) (the NLS Regulations) pursuant to the ambulatory
reference provision in regulation 4 of those Regulations.
The amendments to regulation 1 (definition of ‘persistent
floater’) and to Appendix 6 apply by virtue of the references to
them in regulation 13 (paragraph 7). The amendments come into
force on 1 January 2021.
IMO
Resolutions MSC.460(101) and MEPC.318(74) amend chapters 1, 15,
16, 17 ,18, 19 and 21 of the International Code for the
Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals
in Bulk (the
IBC Code). Chapters 17 and 18 of the
IBC Code are referenced in regulations 3(1) and 24(8) of
the NLS Regulations and these references are updated pursuant to
the ambulatory reference provision in regulation 4 of the
Regulations. As a result, ships carrying dangerous chemicals or
noxious liquid substances in bulk will need to amend the list of
products that they may carry and will require new Certificates of
Fitness and Noxious Liquid Substances Certificates. The
amendments come into force on 1 January 2021.
The amendments referred to in this statement will be published,
with explanatory information, in a marine guidance note and will
be available on GOV.UK.
