Citation, commencement and interpretation
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Garbage) Regulations 1988 and shall come into force on 31st December 1988.
(2) In these Regulations:
“garbage” means all kinds of victual, domestic and operational waste excluding fresh fish and parts thereof, generated during the normal operation of the ship and liable to be disposed of continuously or periodically except sewage originating from ships;
“harmful substances in packaged form” means those substances which are identified as marine pollutants in the IMDG Code and which are in the form of containment specified in the schedules of that Code;
“the IMDG Code” means the 1977 edition of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code published by the International Maritime Organisation, as amended from time to time by any document which is considered by the Secretary of State to be relevant and is specified in a Merchant Shipping Notice;
“mile” means an international nautical mile that is to say a distance of 1,852 metres;
“nearest land”: in relation to all land other than the part of Australia specified below,“from the nearest land” means from the nearest baseline from which the territorial sea of any territory is established in accordance with the Geneva Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone 1958(1); and in relation to the part of the north-eastern coast of Australia which lies between the points 11° 00'S, 142° 08'E and 24° 42'S, 153° 15'E,“from the nearest land” means from the nearest of the straight lines joining consecutively the following points:
11° 00'S, 142° 08'E; 10° 35'S, 141° 55'E; 10° 00'S, 142° 00'E; 9° 10'S, 143° 52'E; 9° 00'S, 144° 30'E; 13° 00'S, 144° 00'E; 15° 00'S, 146° 00'E; 18° 00'S, 147° 00'E; 21° 00'S, 153° 00'E and 24° 42'S, 153° 15'E;
“noxious liquid substances” and“non-polluting liquid substances” have the meanings respectively given to them in the Merchant Shipping (Control of Pollution by Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk) Regulations 1987(2);
“oil” and“oily mixtures” have the meanings respectively given to them in the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Oil Pollution) Regulations 1983(3);
“operational wastes” means all maintenance wastes, cargo associated wastes and cargo residues except residues or wastes from oil or oily mixtures, noxious liquid substances, non-polluting liquid substances or harmful substances in packaged form;
“plastics” includes, but is not limited to, synthetic ropes, synthetic fishing nets and plastic garbage bags;
“required standard”: to the required standard means, in relation to comminuted or ground garbage, comminuted or ground sufficiently finely to be capable of passing through a screen with openings no greater than 25 millimetres;
“sea” includes any estuary or arm of the sea;
“ship” means a vessel of any type whatsoever operating in the marine environment including submersible craft, floating craft and any structure which is a fixed or floating platform but excludes hovercraft;
“Special Area”: any area which is defined by the Secretary of State in a Merchant Shipping Notice and which he therein declares will on a given date become a Special Area for the purposes of Annex V to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973 as amended by the Protocol thereto of 1978, shall on and after that date be a Special Area for the purpose of these Regulations;
“United Kingdom ship” means a ship which:
is registered in the United Kingdom; or
is not registered under the law of any country but is wholly owned by persons each of whom is either a British citizen or a body corporate which is established under the law of a part of the United Kingdom and has its principal place of business in a part of the United Kingdom.