International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil

Article V

Article III shall not apply to the discharge of oily mixture
from the bilges of a ship during the period of twelve months
following the date on which the present Convention comes into
force for the relevant territory in accordance with paragraph
(1) of Article II.

Article VI

1. Any contravention of Articles III and IX shall be an
offence punishable under the law of the relevant territory in
respect of the ship in accordance with paragraph (1) of
Article II.

2. The penalties which may be imposed under the law of any of
the territories of a Contracting Government in respect of the
unlawful discharge from a ship of oil or oily mixture outside
the territorial sea of that territory shall be adequate in
severity to discourage any such unlawful discharge and shall
not be less than the penalties which may be imposed under the
law of that territory in respect of the same infringements
within the territorial sea.

3. Each Contracting Government shall report to the
Organization the penalties actually imposed for each
infringement.

Article VII

1. As from a date twelve months after the present Convention
comes into force for the relevant territory in respect of a
ship in accordance with paragraph (1) of Article II, such a
ship shall be required to be so fitted as to prevent, as far
as reasonable and practicable, the escape of oil into bilges,
unless effective means are provided to ensure that the oil in
the bilges is not discharged in contravention of this
Convention.

2. Carrying water ballast in oil fuel tanks shall be avoided
if possible.

Article VIII

1. Each Contracting Government shall take all appropriate
steps to promote the provision of facilities as follows:

a) according to the needs of ships using them, ports shall be
provided with facilities adequate for the reception, without
causing undue delay to ships of such residues and oily
mixtures as would remain for disposal from ships other than
tankers if the bulk of the water had been separated from the
mixture;

b) oil loading terminals shall be provided with facilities,
adequate for the reception of such residues and oily mixture
as would similarly remain for disposal by tankers;

c) ship repair ports shall be provided with facilities
adequate for the reception of such residues and oily mixtures
as would similarly remain for disposal by all ships entering
for repairs.

2. Each Contracting Government shall determine which are the
ports and oil loading terminals in its territories suitable
for the purposes of sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of
paragraph (1) of this Article.

3. As regards paragraph (1) of this Article, each Contracting
Government shall report to the Organization, for transmission
to the Contracting Government concerned, all cases where the
facilities are alleged to be inadequate.

Article IX

1. Of the ships to which the present Convention applies, every
ship which uses oil fuel and every tanker shall be provided
with an oil record book, whether as part of the ship’s
official log book or otherwise, in the form specified in the
Annex to this Convention.

2. The oil record book shall be completed on each occasion, on
a tank-to-tank basis, whenever any of the following operations
take place in the ship:

a) for tankers:

(i) loading of oil cargo;
(ii) transfer of oil cargo during voyage;
(iii) discharge of oil cargo;
(iv) ballasting of cargo tanks;
(v) cleaning of cargo tanks;
(vi) discharge of dirty ballast;
(vii) discharge of water from slop-tanks;
(viii) disposal of residues;
(ix) discharge overboard of bilge water containing oil
which has accumulated in machinery spaces whilst in port, and
the routine discharge at sea of bilge water containing oil
unless the latter has been entered in the appropriate log
book;

b) for ships other than tankers:

(i) ballasting or cleaning of bunker fuel tanks;
(ii) discharge of dirty ballast or cleaning water from
tanks referred to under (i) of this subparagraph;
(iii) disposal of residues;
(iv) discharge overboard of bilge water containing oil
which has accumulated in machinery spaces whilst in port, and
the routine discharge at sea of bilge water containing oil
unless the latter has been entered in the appropriate log
book.

In the event of such discharge or escape of oil or oily
mixture as is referred to in Article IV, a statement shall be
made in the oil record book of the circumstances of, and the
reason for, the discharge or escape.

3. Each operation described in paragraph (2) of this Article
shall be fully recorded without delay in the oil record book
so that all the entries in the book appropriate to that
operation are completed. Each page of the book shall be signed
by the officer or officers in charge of the operations
concerned and, when the ship is manned, by the master of the
ship. The written entries in the oil record book shall be in
an official language of the relevant territory in respect of
the ship in accordance with paragraph (1) of Article II, or in
English or French.

4. Oil record books shall be kept in such a place as to be
readily available for inspection at all reasonable times, and,
except in the case of unmanned ships under tow, shall be kept
on board the ship. They shall be preserved for a period of two
years after the last entry has been made.

5. The competent authorities of any of the territories of a
Contracting Government may inspect on board any ship to which
the present Convention applies, while within a port in that
territory, the oil record book required to be carried in the
ship in compliance with the provisions of this Article, and
may make a true copy of an entry in that book and may require
the master of the ship to certify that the copy is a true copy
of such entry. Any copy so made which purports to have been
certified by the master of the ship as a true copy of an entry
in the ship’s oil record book shall be made admissible in any
judicial proceedings as evidence of the facts stated in the
entry. Any action by the competent authorities under this
paragraph shall be taken as expeditiously as possible and the
ship shall not be delayed.

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil.