Amendments To Paragraph B Of Regulation 4 Of Annex Iv Of The Convention Of 22 March 1974 On The Protection Of The Marine Environment Of The Baltic Sea Area
Source: UNTS 1988, 210-211
The amendments were adopted in the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission and communicated to the Contracting Parties. They came into force on 1 December 1980, in accordance with the provisions of article 24 (1) and (2).
The amendments read as follows:
Paragraph B of Regulation 4 of Annex IV of the Convention is amended, starting from and including Sub-Paragraph 2, to read as follows:
"2. Subject to the provisions of Paragraph C of this Regulation, any discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixture from a ship of less than 400 tons gross tonnage, other than an oil tanker, shall be prohibited while in the Baltic Sea Area, except when the oil content of the effluent without dilution does not exceed 15 parts per million or alternatively when all of the following conditions are satisfied:
"(i) The ship is proceeding en route;
"(ii) The oil content of the effluent is less than 100 parts per million; and
"(iii) The discharge is made as far as practicable from the land, but in no case less than 12 nautical miles from the nearest land.
"3. a) The provisions of Sub-Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Paragraph shall not apply to the discharge of clean or segregated ballast.
"b) The provisions of Sub-Paragraph 1 of this Paragraph shall not apply to the discharge of processed bilge water from machinery spaces, provided that all of the following conditions are satisfied:
"(i) The bilge water does not originate from cargo pump;
"(ii) The bilge water is not mixed with oil cargo residues;
"(iii) The ship is proceeding en route;
"(iv) The oil content of the effluent without dilution does not exceed 15 parts per million;
"(v) The ship has in operation an oily-water separating system and an effective filtering system, or an equivalent equipment, approved by the Administration;
"(vi) The system or equipment is such that it will produce an effluent the oil content of which does not exceed 15 parts per million, and is provided with alarm arrangements to indicate when this level cannot be maintained, as well as a stopping device which will ensure that the discharge is automatically stopped when the oil content of the effluent exceeds 15 parts per million.
"4. a) No discharge into the sea shall contain chemicals or other substances in quantities or concentrations which are hazardous to the marine environment or chemicals or other substances introduced for the purpose of circumventing the conditions of discharge specified in this Regulation.
"b) The oil residues which cannot be discharged into the sea in compliance with Sub-Paragraphs 2 or 3b) of this Paragraph shall be retained on board or discharged to reception facilities.
"5. Whenever visible traces of oil are observed on or below the surface of the water in the immediate vicinity of a ship or its wake, the Contracting Parties should, to the extent they are reasonably able to do so, promptly investigate the facts bearing on the issue of whether there has been a violation of the provisions of this Regulation. The investigation should include, in particular, the wind and sea conditions, the track and speed of the ship, other possible sources of the visible traces in the vicinity, and any relevant oil discharge records."
