Marpol
“Marpol,”
the short form for marine pollution, is also the name of an
international convention for the prevention of environmental pollution
from any sea going vessel. Better known as Marpol 73/78, the agreement
came into effect on 2nd November 1973 at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London, England.
The main aim for implementing Marpol was to minimize the pollution of the seas, which mainly occurs because of the dirty oil, exhaust gases, and hazardous chemicals from ships. The Marpol convention provides utmost importance to the marine environment by completely eliminating the usage of any type of substances that can prove harmful to the environment.
The main aim for implementing Marpol was to minimize the pollution of the seas, which mainly occurs because of the dirty oil, exhaust gases, and hazardous chemicals from ships. The Marpol convention provides utmost importance to the marine environment by completely eliminating the usage of any type of substances that can prove harmful to the environment.
History of Marpol
The history of Marpol goes back to 1954 when the first conference related to sea pollution known as “the International convention for the prevention of pollution of the sea by oil” (OILPOL) was held. The conference was first organized by the United Kingdom; however later on, all the regulations and functions related to the convention were transferred to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Technically, Marpol 73/78 is a combination of the two international Marpol treaties which came into being in the year 1973 and 1978. The first treaty that came into force in the year 1973 prevented pollution by oil, chemicals and hazardous substances in packaged form. However, the people involved revised the treaty because of the series of tanker accidents that took place between 1976 and 1977. The new Marpol treaty was then re-adopted in February 1978.
The period from 1976 to 1977 saw a series of oil pollution accidents at high seas, which not only affected the marine life but also the people who lived in the coastal areas. The revival of the Marpol convention was made with a special focus on the oil tankers going to the seas. A special conference on Tanker safety and pollution prevention was held to bring into notice various issues related to tanker design and operation. The Marpol 73/78 has been in operation since then; however, several changes have taken place in the original convention in the last few years.
What does Marpol Consists Of?
Marpol
73/78 mainly consists of six annexes that describe various regulations
related to the discharge of oil and other environmentally harmful
chemicals into the sea. The first annex of the six annexes came into
force from 1983 and the rest of the annexes followed it gradually. Each
of the annexes is dedicated to the rules and regulations of a particular
harmful substance. A brief outline of each annexure is as follows.
Annex
1 of the Marpol deals with regulations related to the discharge of oil
into the sea, annex 2 deals with regulations of noxious liquid
substances, annex 3 deals with the regulations of harmful substances in
packaged form, annex 4 deals with regulations related to sewage, annex 5
deals with garbage and solid waste, and the most recently established
annex 6 deals with air pollution from ships.
Apart
from this, the Marpol convention consists of various regulations
related to the design, construction, and inspection of the ship. Marpol
also includes a special segment known as the “special areas” wherein a
few areas around the world are limited from any kind of discharge into
its waters, mainly because of their vulnerable environmental conditions
and already damaged ecosystem.
Thus, Marpol is a
compilation of various rules and regulations that monitors and prevents
the pollution at sea fro ships. Moreover, because of the growing concern
towards the environment, these rules are becoming stricter, demanding
better and more environmentally friendly ships.
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