Oil & Oily Water

MARPOL Annex I discusses oil and oily water. Enforcement of Annex I began in October of 1983. Its objective was to completely eliminate oil and oily discharge pollution. The first part of the annex focuses on engine room waste, while the second part focuses on cleaning the cargo area and tanks. Every cargo vessel to which MARPOL conventions apply is required to keep an oil record book in which records of oil or sludge transfers or discharges within the vessel are kept. There are very few exceptions to this requirement.

There have been many technological and mechanical advancements since the adopting of this regulation. Some of these advancements include the following:

Oily water separators - like its name implies, this piece of equipment separates oil from water before it is discharged.

Oil content meter - this is a piece of the oily water separator that monitors the amount of oil that is pumped through the discharge line.

Oil discharge monitoring equipment - this is an apparatus designed to monitor oil discharge. This piece of equipment is fit with a GPS, an oil content meter, a flow meter, and the ability to record this data. Using the data gathered, this equipment will allow a discharge, or stop a discharge, using a valve.

It is prohibited to ever release oil or oily water into the sea.

To learn more about Polar Code visit our Polar Code Online Training web page.