News from IMO : Single-hull Oil Tanker Phase-out

Following the Torrey Canyon disaster 1969 with spilling of 120,000 t of crude oil into the sea, the IMO adopted MARPOL Convention
in 1973. With the signing of Protocol of 1978, new requirements were added and it became known as MARPOL 73/78. Annex I of
MARPOL 73/78 deals with the prevention of pollution by oil. Reacting to a number of serious incidents of oil pollution by tankers,
amendments were made in March 1992 to include a new Regulation 13 F requiring double hull or an equal level of protection for new oil
tankers. For existing single hull tankers, stricter inspection and survey regime, including enhanced survey programme and eventual phasing out
were prescribed in Regulation 13G. As oil pollution incidents by tankers continued, further amendments to Regulation 13G were made in
July 1999, April 2001 and the latest ones in December 2003 introducing each time, stricter requirements for existing tankers including earlier
phasing out. This paper answers some of the questions on the latest amendments that came in force on April 5, 2005.

What happened on April 5 , 2005? What about the Condition Assessment Scheme (CAS)?
On April 5 , 2005, amendments to Annex I of MARPOL 73/78, The CAS for oil tankers was adopted in 2001 alongside the revised
adopted by IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee phase-out schedule and is applicable to certain oil tankers under
(MEPC) by resolution MEPC.111(50) in December 2003, entered regulations 13G and 13H.
into force for all Parties to the MARPOL Convention.
Although the CAS does not specify structural standards in excess of
How many Flag States does this affect? the provisions of other IMO Conventions, codes and recommen-
dations, its requirements stipulate more stringent and transparent
MARPOL (Annexes I and II) has been ratified by 130 countries verification of the reported structural condition of the ship and
representing 97.07 % of world merchant shipping tonnage. require that documentary and survey procedures have properly been
What are the amendments exactly? carried out and completed.
The requirements of the CAS include enhanced and transparent
The amendments revised the existing regulation 13G on Prevention verification of the reported structural condition of the ship and
of accidental oil pollution - measures for existing oil tankers of verification that the documentary and survey procedures have pro-
Annex I of MARPOL 73/78 and added a new regulation 13H on perly carried out and completed. The Scheme requires that compli-
Prevention of oil pollution from oil tankers carrying heavy grade oil ance with the CAS is assessed during the Enhanced Survey
as cargo. Consequential amendments to the Condition Assessment Programme of Inspections concurrent with intermediate or renewal
Scheme (CAS) for oil tankers were also adopted. surveys currently required by resolution A.744(18), as amended.
What does the revised regulation 13G say? Under the revised regulation 13G, the Condition Assessment Scheme
The revised regulation brings forward the phase-out schedule that (CAS) is applicable to all single-hull tankers aged 15 years, or older.
was first established in 1992, and revised in 2001 for existing single- Can any single hull tankers operate beyond the dates set?
hull tankers. It says that tankers which are single hull should be
phased out or converted to a ‘double hull’ by the dates set out in the The revised regulation 13G allows the Administration (Flag State)
revised regulation. to permit continued operation of Category 2 or Category 3 tankers
beyond its phase-out date in accordance with the schedule subject to
What is the phase-out timetable? satisfactory results from the CAS, but the continued operation must
The phase-out schedule is now as follows: not go beyond the anniversary of the date of delivery of the ship in
2015 or the date on which the ship reaches 25 years of age after the
Category of Oil Tanker Date or Year date of its delivery, whichever is earlier.
Category 1 : Oil tankers of 20000 t April 5, 2005 for ships delivered on In the case of certain Category 2 or Category 3 oil tanker fitted with
deadweight and above carrying April 5, 1982 or earlier only double bottoms or double sides not used for the carriage of oil
crude oil, fuel oil, heavy diesel oil Anniversary date in 2005 for ships and extending to the entire cargo tank length or tankers fitted with
or lubricating oil as cargo, and of delivered after April 5, 1982
double hull spaces not meeting the minimum distance protection
30000 t deadweight and above
carrying other oils, which do not
requirements, which are not used for the carriage of oil and extend to
comply with the requirements for the entire cargo tank length, the Administration may allow contin-
protectively located segregated ued operation beyond its phase-out date in accordance with the sched-
ballast tanks (commonly known as ule, provided that the ship was in service on July 1, 2001, the
Pre-MARPOL tankers) Administration is satisfied by verification of the official records that
April 5, 2005 for ships delivered on the ship complied with the conditions specified and that those con-
Category 2 : Oil tankers of 20000 t
deadweight and above carrying April 5, 1977 or earlier ditions remain unchanged. Again, such continued operation must
crude oil, fuel oil, heavy diesel oil Anniversary date in 2005 for ships not go beyond the date on which the ship reaches 25 years of age
or lubricating oil as cargo, and of delivered after April 5, 1977 but after the date of its delivery.
30000 t deadweight and above car- before January 1, 1978
rying other oils, which do comply Anniversary date in 2006 for ships A Party to MARPOL 73/78 can deny entry of single hull tankers
with the protectively located segre- delivered in 1978 and 1979 which have been allowed to continue operation under the exemp-
gated ballast tank requirements Anniversary date in 2007 for ships tions mentioned above, into the ports or offshore terminals under
(MARPOL tankers) delivered in 1980 and 1981
Anniversary date in 2008 for ships its jurisdiction.
and
Category 3 : Oil tankers of 5000 t delivered in 1982 Which Administrations have communicated information on
deadweight and above but less than Anniversary date in 2009 for ships
delivered in 1983 their implementation of the regulations?
the tonnage specified for Category 1
Anniversary date in 2010 for ships
and Category 2 tankers
delivered in 1984 or later
Parties to MARPOL applying the provisions allowing for extended
operation of Category 2 or Category 3 tankers and Parties which will
This article has been downloaded from IMO website and published with deny entry to those tankers must communicate this information to
the permission of the IMO. IMO.
Vol 86, July 2005 23
What about tankers which have been converted, how do you
determine the date of delivery?
IMO’s MEPC, at its 52nd session in October 2004, adopted a
unified interpretation to regulation 13G(4) of MARPOL Annex I
on Major Conversion, which clarified the situation.
It states that ‘For the purpose of determining the application date
for the requirements of regulation 13G(4) of MARPOL Annex I,
where an oil tanker has undergone a major conversion, as defined in
regulation 1 of MARPOL Annex I, that has resulted in the replace-
ment of the fore-body, including the entire cargo carrying section,
the major conversion completion date of the oil tanker shall be
deemed to be the date of delivery of the ship referred to in regula-
tion 13G(4) of MARPOL Annex I, provided that:
• the oil tanker conversion was completed before July 6, 1996;
• the conversion included the replacement of the entire cargo
section and fore-body and the tanker complies with all the relevant
provisions of MARPOL Annex I applicable at the date of comple-
tion of the major conversion; and
• the original delivery date of the oil tanker will apply when con-
sidering the 15 years of age threshold relating to the first CAS
survey to be completed in accordance with regulation 13G(6) of
MARPOL Annex I.
What about heavy grades of oil (Regulation 13H) ?
MARPOL regulation 13H on the prevention of oil pollution from
oil tankers when carrying heavy grade oil (HGO) bans the carriage of
HGO in single-hull tankers of 5000 t deadweight (DWT) and above
after the date of entry into force of the regulation (April 5, 2005),
and in single-hull oil tankers of 600 DWT and above but less than
5000 t DWT, not later than the anniversary of their delivery date
in 2008.
Under Regulation 13H, HGO means any of the following:
• crude oils having a density at 15ºC higher than 900 kg/m3;
• duel oils having either a density at 15ºC higher than 900 kg/ m3
or a kinematic viscosity at 50ºC higher than 180 mm2/s; and
• bitumen, tar and their emulsions.
In the case of certain Category 2 or Category 3 tankers carrying HGO
as cargo, fitted only with double bottoms or double sides, not used
for the carriage of oil and extending to the entire cargo tank length,
or tankers fitted with double hull spaces not meeting the minimum
distance protection requirements which are not used for the carriage
of oil and extend to the entire cargo tank length, the Administra-
tion, under certain conditions, may allow continued operation of
such ships beyond April 5, 2005 until the date on which the ship
reaches 25 years of age after the date of its delivery.
Regulation 13H also allows for continued operation of oil tankers
of 5000 DWT and above, carrying crude oil with a density at 15ºC
higher than 900 kg/ m3 but lower than 945 kg/ m3, if satisfactory
results of the Condition Assessment Scheme warrant that, in the
opinion of the Administration, the ship is fit to continue such
operation, having regard to the size, age, operational area and struc-
tural conditions of the ship and provided that the continued
24
operation shall not go beyond the date on which the ship reaches
25 years after the date of its delivery.
The Administration may allow continued operation of a single hull
oil tanker of 600 DWT and above but less than 5000 DWT, carrying
HGO as cargo, if, in the opinion of the Administration, the ship is
fit to continue such operation, having regard to the size, age, opera-
tional area and structural conditions of the ship, provided that the
operation shall not go beyond the date on which the ship reaches
25 years after the date of its delivery.
The Administration may exempt an oil tanker of 600 DWT and
above carrying HGO as cargo if the ship is either engaged in voyages
exclusively within an area under the Party’s jurisdiction, or is engaged
in voyages exclusively within an area under the jurisdiction of
another Party, provided the Party within whose jurisdiction the ship
will be operating agrees. The same applies to vessels operating as
floating storage units of HGO.
A Party to MARPOL 73/78 can deny entry of single hull tankers
carrying HGO which have been allowed to continue operation under
the exemptions mentioned above, into the ports or offshore termi-
nals under its jurisdiction, or deny ship-to-ship transfer of heavy
grade oil in areas under its jurisdiction except when this is necessary
for the purpose of securing the safety of a ship or saving life at sea.
How many oil tankers are affected by the phase-out in
Regulation 13G?
It is hard to give an exact figure as the number of oil tankers cur-
rently in operation needs to be considered. Oil tankers may be taken
out of service for many different reasons or may be laid up at any
specific time.
There are some figures available. According to figures produced by
SSY Research, reported in Tradewinds (October 15, 2004), there are
173 single-hull tankers of over 200000 DWT in existence, out of a
total VLCC and ULCC fleet of 455 vessels. The single-hull VLCC
fleet comprises a combined 46.8 million DWT, of the world VLCC
and ULCC fleet total of 131.4 million DWT. There are still 14 vessels
of pre-1980s vintage and 10 built between 1980 and 1984. After that
the numbers increase, with 42 ships of 10.75 million DWT built in
the period from 1985 to 1989.
Will there be enough ship recycling capacity to absorb all the
ships taken out of service?
This issue was raised at the MEPC when the amendments were
adopted. The MEPC adopted Resolution MEPC.113(50) Ship
recycling for the smooth implementation of the amendments to
Annex I of MARPOL 73/78.
The resolution recommends that Member Governments, especially
the Governments of countries with shipbuilding, ship recycling and
other shipping interests:
(a) take initiatives to maintain adequate ship recycling facilities at
world-wide level, based on the evaluation of the impact of the
amendments to Annex I of MARPOL 73/78 on the demand for
ships to be recycled; and
(b) endeavour to promote research and development programmes
to improve environment and safety level in ship recycling operation.
IE (I) Journal - MR