Pollution Prevention and Environmental Protection
Pollution prevention
This domain tests MARPOL Annexes, oil record books, garbage management, sewage, ballast water and air emissions.
- Annex I: oily water separator discharge must be below 15 ppm; special areas and machinery-space bilge rules apply.
- Annex V: garbage is categorised; placards and a garbage record book are required; plastics never go overboard.
- Annex VI: sulphur limits are 0.50% outside ECAs and 0.10% inside; scrubbers must be approved and recorded.
- Ballast water management follows the BWM Convention; exchange or treatment must be logged.
- SOPEP and spill response equipment must be ready; the ORB entries must be true and timely.
Worked example
A bilge tank holds 20 m³ of oily water at 200 ppm oil. If discharged without treatment, oil quantity = 200 ppm × 20 m³ = 200 mL/m³ × 20 m³ = 4000 mL = 4 litres. The 15 ppm limit means the separator must reduce concentration by more than a factor of 13 before overboard discharge. If the 15 ppm alarm sounds, discharge must stop and the separator inspected; the OOW should not override the alarm.
Traps
Treating Annex I and Annex V as the same. Making false or delayed ORB entries. Discharging treated bilge water in a special area without checking the rules. Assuming a scrubber allows unlimited high-sulphur fuel without recording.