MARPOL ANNEX III – IMDG Code Compliance Centre

Marine Pollutants – MARPOL ANNEX III

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78) deals with various aspects of prevention of marine pollution by ships.

MARPOL through its six annexes promulgates mandatory regulations aimed at minimizing and preventing pollutions from ships – both accidental and from routine operations. Annex III of MARPOL, entered into force on 1^st July 1992, deals with “Prevention of Pollution by Harmful Substances Carried by Sea in Packaged Form”. Today, the number of contracting parties and states to Annex III is 138, which accounts to 97.59% of the World Tonnage.

For the purpose of Annex III, “harmful substances” are (1) those substances which are identified as Marine Pollutants in the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code) or (2) which meet the criteria in the Appendix to Annex III. Regulation 1(2) of Annex III prohibits carriage of harmful substances except in accordance with the provisions of this Annex which is amplified and published in IMDG Code.

Many substances, articles and materials falling under classes 1 to 9 have the potential to cause pollution to marine environment, the index and column 4 of Dangerous Goods List indicates these substances, materials and articles with the symbol “P”. However the absence of the symbol P or the presence of a “–” in the column 4 does not preclude the application of classification criteria of Marine Pollutant when deemed necessary.

A substance, material or article which does not have the property of any classes from 1 to 8 however having the potential to pollute marine environment must be transported as Marine Pollutant under the entry: ENVIRONMENTALLY HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE, SOLID, N.O.S., UN 3077 or ENVIRONMENTALLY HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE, LIQUID, N.O.S., UN 3082, as appropriate, unless there is a specific entry in class 9.

MARPOL Annex III Regulation 2 requires the packages to be adequate to minimize the hazard to marine environment. This is amplified through Packing, IBC & Tank Instructions in IMDG Code. Further every package, tank or bulk container carrying Marine Pollutant must be marked with Marine Pollutant mark.

IMDG Code 37-14 has amended the requirement of Marine pollutant mark through section 5.2.1.6.3 as below

The marking must be in the form of a square set at an angle of 45° (diamond-shaped). The symbol (fish and tree) shall be black on white or suitable contrasting background. The minimum dimensions must be 100 mm x 100 mm and the minimum width of line forming the diamond shall be 2 mm. If the size of the package so requires, the dimensions/line thickness may be reduced, provided the marking remains clearly visible. Where dimensions are not specified, all features shall be in approximate proportion to those shown.

The section 5.2.1.6.3 of IMDG Code 36-12 may be used until 31 December 2016.

Packages must be marked on one side, IBCs on two opposing sides, containers and tanks on all four sides. The size of mark on packages and IBCs must be 100mm x 100mm, containers and tanks 250mm x 250mm. Marking of packages, containers and tanks are required through Regulation 3 of MARPOL Annex III.

According to MARPOL Annex III Regulation 4, whenever a Marine Pollutant is offered for transport by sea the document must mention the words “MARINE POLLUTANT” after the description of dangerous goods. This can be supplemented with words “ENVIRONMENTALLY HAZARDOUS”. Every ship must have a special list, manifest or stowage plan showing the stowage location of Marine Pollutants loaded at each port. This must be revised at every load and discharge. These two documents must be handed over to the person or organization designated by the port authority.

Carriers while loading Marine Pollutant packages or containers/tanks, containing Marine Pollutant, will normally prefer under deck stowage, when permitted, or will stow only on well-protected decks or inboard in sheltered areas of exposed decks. (Regulation 5 – MARPOL Annex III) This is to prevent containers falling into sea due to any reason.

IMDG Code 37-14 gives relaxation from many requirements of regulations when goods which has only Marine Pollution potential, does not have property of any other classes, is packaged in single or combination packagings containing a net quantity per single or inner packaging of 5 l or less for liquids or having a net mass per single or inner packaging of 5 kg or less for solids. When packaged in this way they are not subject to any other provisions of IMDG Code relevant to Marine Pollutants provided the packagings meet the general provisions of 4.1.1.1, 4.1.1.2 and 4.1.1.4 to 4.1.1.8

Heads up for next year!

Following entries which were not identified as Marine Pollutant in IMDG Code 36-12 is now identified as Marine Pollutant in IMDG Code 37-14.

UN 1005 1098 1206 1262 1272 1299 1334 1547 1600 1708 1748 1840 1920 2038 2073 2208 2218 2241 2304 2325 2331 2368 2381 2672 2709 2850 2880 3318 3451 3454 3485 3486 3487.

Seafood - Photo Credit Sunil UK — Seafood – Photo Credit Sunil UK

A simple fact: If a chemical can alter the taste of seafood then it is MARINE POLLUTANT!

Consequences of including Non-Dangerous Goods in Dangerous Goods Manifest

For enabling effective Emergency Response Measures in the event of spillage and fire involving dangerous goods on board ships, regulation VII/ 4.2 of SOLAS 1974, as amended, and regulation 4.2 of Annex III of MARPOL 73/78 and section 5.4.3.1 of IMDG Code requires a special list, manifest or stowage plan with information of Dangerous Goods, Marine Pollutants and the locations of these goods on board the vessel.

Section 5.4.3.2.1 of IMDG Code requires appropriate information, immediately available, at all times for use in emergency response to accidents; methods of this can be:

appropriate entries in the special list, manifest or dangerous goods declaration; or
provision of a separate document such as a safety data sheet; or
provision of separate documentation, such as the Emergency Response Procedures for Ships Carrying Dangerous Goods (EmS Guide) for use in conjunction with the transport document and the Medical First Aid Guide for Use in Accidents Involving Dangerous Goods (MFAG).

In general most shipping lines submit Dangerous Goods Declarations and Dangerous Goods Manifest to vessels. Some lines provide only Dangerous Goods Manifest, IMO FAL Form 7.

What may be the consequences if non-dangerous Goods are included in this manifest?

UN Numbers UN 1910, UN 2807, UN 2812, UN 3334 and UN 3335 are assigned with Special Provision 960 which states “Not subject to the provisions of this Code but may be subject to provisions governing the transport of dangerous goods by other modes.”

Even though not dangerous for sea transport IMDG Code included these UN Numbers for harmonization purpose as they may be dangerous for other mode(s) of transport ( e.g. Air ).

In Dangerous Goods List (chapter 3.2 of IMDG Code) there are no EmS Codes assigned for Emergency Response Measures in column 15 for these UN Numbers as they are not dangerous goods for Sea transport and there are no specific requirement or guidance for handling spillage or firefighting involving these goods.

If a vessel operator includes any of these UN Numbers in the Dangerous Goods Manifest and if there is an emergency on board involving fire to containers including these said non-dangerous UN Number(s) the Master and crew may look for emergency response measures in IMDG Code and will not find any information.

This may cause delay in effective firefighting and or other consequences due to loss of vital time spent for looking for EmS of non-dangerous goods.

Keeping above in view we must urge the industry not to include NON Dangerous Goods in DG Manifest as it may cause delay in firefighting on board ships at sea.

UN 3077, 3082 – Always Marine Pollutant?

Question asked by many is

Whether UN 3077, ENVIRONMENTALLY HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE, SOLID, N.O.S. & UN 3082 ENVIRONMENTALLY HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE, LIQUID, N.O.S. can only be used for marine pollutants?
or Why there is no letter P in dangerous goods list identifying these entries as marine pollutant?

MARINE POLLUTANT/ENVIRONMENTALLY HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE

For guidance

If a substance meet the provisions of section 2.9.3, of IMDG Code, then it is a marine pollutant
If a substance do not meet the provisions of section 2.9.3, of IMDG Code, but transported under 3077 or 3082 then it is not a marine pollutant.
If a substance is identified as marine pollutant by IMDG Code but no longer meets the provisions of classification as per section 2.9.3, of IMDG Code, then it can be transported as non-marine pollutant with the approval of competent authority.
Basel waste which does not meet any criteria of IMDG Code can also be transported under UN 3077 or 3082

MARPOL

International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), 73/78, is a combination of two treaties adopted in 1973 and 1978 by International Maritime Organisation.

This convention includes regulations to prevent and minimize pollution from ships. It has six annexes as below.

Annex I

Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Oil

Annex II

Regulations for the Control of Pollution by Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk

Annex III

Prevention of Pollution by Harmful Substances Carried by Sea in Packaged Form

Annex IV

Prevention of Pollution by Sewage from Ships

Annex V

Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships

Annex VI

Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships

IMDG Code 35-10 & MARPOL

MARPOL Annex III , Prevention of Pollution by Harmful Substances Carried by Sea in Packaged Form, is reproduced in IMDG Code 35-10 section 1.1.2.2. Annex III has 8 regulations and an Appendix as below

Regulation 1 = Application

Regulation 2 = Packing

Regulation 3 = Marking and Labelling

Regulation 4 = Documentation

Regulation 5 = Stowage

Regulation 6 = Quantity Limitation

Regulation 7 = Exceptions

Regulation 8 = Port State control and operational requirements

Appendix

CRITERIA FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF HARMFUL SUBSTANCES IN PACKAGED FORM

For the purposes of this Annex, substances identified by any one of the following criteria are harmful substances:

Section 2.9.3 of IMDG Code 35-10 sets out the classification criteria for Environmentally hazardous substances (aquatic environment)

Chapter 2.10 defines Marine pollutants as “substances which are subject to the provisions of Annex III of MARPOL 73/78, as amended”

Index of IMDG Code 35-10 and Column 4 in Dangerous Goods Lists in chapter 3.2 identifies Marine Pollutants with symbol P.

However when a substance, material or article possess the properties of marine pollutant but not identified in IMDG Code as such it shall be transported according to the relevant provisions for carriage of marine pollutants.

Packages containing marine pollutants must be marked with the recognized chemical name of the marine pollutant and bear the Marine Pollutant mark set out in section 5.2.1.6.3 of IMDG Code 35-10 which is shown below

dimensions shall be at least 100 mm × 100 mm, except in the case of packages of such dimensions that they can only bear smaller marks.

However single packagings and combination packagings having :
– a net quantity of 5 l or less for liquids; or
– a net mass of 5 kg or less for solids

need not be marked.

Containers containing marine pollutants must be marked with marine pollutant mark having minimum dimensions of 250 mm x 250 mm one on each side and one on each end of the container even if the container contains packages not required to bear the marine pollutant mark