The IMO has agreed that ships above 100t should provide a Garbage Record Book in which to record all disposal and incineration operations.
An amendment made in the IMO’s International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) has changed rules for smaller ships in garbage recording.
MARPOL Annex V bans the discharge of all garbage into the sea, except as provided in other requiremnts related to food waste, cargo residues, cleaning agents and additives and animal carcasses.
Under Annex V in the original requirements, only ships above 400t had to carry a Garbage Record Book, but now this will apply to much smaller ships.
Now all sbips above 100t will have to carry a record book, with details of the time, date time of occurrence and details of the loss.
Fishing gear
Discussing the amendments at a sub-committee meeting, members also suggested fishing gear should be marked and mandatory reporting of lost fishing gear implemented.
The Correspondence Group on Marine Plastic Litter from Ships was instructed to consider draft amendments to support the implementation of the draft amendments.
The sub-committee was advised that a mandatory obligation for the marking of fishing gear at this stage would be a challenge and that for optimal results, the voluntary guidelines should be linked to a global vessel registration system.
Fouling guidelines
Meanwhile, the sub-committee finalised the draft text of revised guidelines to support implementation of the AFS Convention, following the adoption in 2021 of amendments to include controls on the biocide cybutryne.
The amendments require that ships shall not apply or re-apply anti-fouling systems containing this substance from 1 January 2023. Ships should remove or apply a sealer coating to AFS with this substance at the next scheduled renewal of the anti-fouling system after 1 January 2023, but no later than 60 months following the last application to the ship of an anti-fouling system containing cybutryne.
