Maritime Safety, Pollution Prevention and Environmental Compliance: MARPOL Annexes and Engine-Room Practice
This domain tests the environmental and safety obligations that fall directly on engineers: MARPOL Annexes I to VI, oily-water separation, sewage and garbage records, air emissions and energy efficiency, plus enclosed-space entry and fixed fire-fighting systems.
Core rules
- Annex I: oily bilge water is discharged only through 15 ppm equipment with a functioning alarm and automatic stopping device, outside special areas, while proceeding en route; entries go in the Oil Record Book Part I.
- Annex IV: sewage discharge is limited by distance and by approved treatment plant performance.
- Annex V: garbage discharge is prohibited except under distance and treatment rules; the Garbage Record Book is mandatory.
- Annex VI: 0.50 percent sulphur globally since 1 January 2020 and 0.10 percent in emission control areas; NOx Tier limits apply by keel-laying date; SEEMP and carbon intensity reporting apply to the ship.
- Enclosed-space entry requires a permit, isolation, ventilation and testing before entry and continuously during occupancy, with a stand-by man.
Worked example
A ship burns 25 tonnes per day of fuel containing 0.45 percent sulphur. Sulphur mass = 25 x 0.0045 = 0.1125 t/day. As SO2 has roughly twice the mass of the sulphur it contains, SO2 emitted is about 0.225 t/day, or 225 kg/day. This is the arithmetic to show that the fuel is compliant with the 0.50 percent cap regardless of the SO2 quantity produced.
Traps
Confusing 15 ppm with 15 mg/L as if they differed; quoting 1.00 percent for the ECA sulphur limit when it is 0.10 percent; and treating a ballast or bilge transfer as exempt from recording.