The Merchant Shipping (Dangerous or Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk) (Amendment) Regulations 2004

Amendment of principal Regulations: Marine pollution emergency plan for noxious liquid substances

5.  After regulation 8 of the principal Regulations there shall be inserted the following:

“Marine pollution emergency plan for noxious liquid substances

8A.— (1) On and after 20th April 2004 every ship of 150 GT and above certified to carry noxious liquid substances in bulk shall carry on board a shipboard marine pollution emergency plan for noxious liquid substances.

(2) The plan required by paragraph (1) above shall:

(a) be approved in the case of a United Kingdom ship by the appropriate Certifying Authority for that ship, and in the case of any other ship be approved by or on behalf of the Administration of the country in which the ship is registered,

(b) be in accordance with IMO Guidelines for the Development of Shipboard Marine Pollution Emergency Plans, IMO Publication IMO-586-E 2001 Edition,

(c) be written in a language or languages understood by the master and officers of the ship,

(d) consist at least of:

(i) the procedure to be followed by the master or other persons having charge of the ship to report a noxious liquid substance pollution incident, as required in article 8 and Protocol I of the MARPOL Convention, based on the guidelines developed by the IMO,

(ii) the list of authorities or persons to be contacted in the event of a noxious liquid substance pollution incident,

(iii) a detailed description of the action to be taken immediately by persons on board to reduce or control the discharge of noxious liquid substances following the incident, and

(iv) the procedures and point of contact on the ship for co-ordinating shipboard action with national and local authorities in combating the pollution.

(3) In the case of ships to which regulation 26 of Annex I to the MARPOL Convention also applies, the plan required by paragraph (1) above may be combined with the shipboard oil pollution emergency plan required under regulation 26 of Annex I to the MARPOL Convention, and in this case the title of the plan shall be “Shipboard Marine Pollution Emergency Plan.””.