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MARPOL penalties anger shipowners
Volume 18/Number 4/April 1987
been shown to be hazardous to both human and environmental health. According to the Belgian Secretary of State for the Environment the technical adjustments needed to manufacture the same substances without producing any titanium dioxide waste can be made relatively quickly, hence Belgium's prompt action in announcing it's ban on dumping,
Mercury Hot-spots of N.W. England
in Papua New Guinea also are active; the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, based in Noumea, has funded projects at the University of PNG, Port Moresby, and the PNG University of Technology, Lae, to monitor metals in waters, sediments and biota in the Fly River estuary and Gulf of Papua, areas which are much more likely to be affected by contamination than the Australian territory. L. S. H A M M O N D
MARPOL Penalties A~ n g e.-.r nlpowners
A recent report by the Government's official working , ~ _ . party o n heavy metals in food has recommended further reductions in mercury discharges into the sea. Although the report shows the average dietary intake of mercury to have been halved since 1976 and to be well within the limits set by the World Health Organization, mercury levels in fish have remained unchanged over this period and individuals who eat large quantities of fish may consume mercury in excess of the recommended provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of 300 gg week-1. The report highlights diet studies of two groups of such people from coastal communities in N.W. England where 12-13% had mercury intakes above the PTWI. In light of this, both the Committee on the Toxicity of Chemicals and the Food Advisory Committee have urged further curbs on mercury discharges into the sea. Because of the growing popularity of fish as part of the average diet, more stringent checks on fish mercury levels are also recommended, Both Liverpool Bay and Morecambe Bay are identified in the report as principle mercury 'hot-spots'. Last year chemical plants in the Liverpool Bay area were ordered to reduce their mercury loads in an effort to meet two EEC directives pertaining to mercury levels in fish. Further reductions may now be asked for although the company concerned contends that fish contamination is primarily the result of uptake from polluted sediments,
Hot-spot for Australia and n__rapua New Guinea Concern about heavy metals deriving from gold and copper mining at Ok Tedi, in the Papua New Guinea highlands, and discharged by the Fly River into the shallow TorTes Strait, has led to action on both sides of the Australia/Papua New Guinea border. The Australian Department of Arts, Heritage and Environment has recently funded a consultancy to design a TorTes Strait Pollution Baseline Study which, if approved, will be conducted over two years. Most of the continental shelf area of Tortes Strait, including its indigenous islander communities, falls under Australian jurisdiction, and there are concerns about effects of lead, copper, and mercury on resources exploited by the island communities, on protected species such as dugong and turtle, on commercial fisheries for prawns and lobsters, and on the coral reefs at the far northern end of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Researchers
World governments, led by the Netherlands, Japan, and the United States, plan strict introduction of the MARPOL Annex II chemical pollution prevention measures from 6 April and have decided to impose a sliding scale of penalties on shipowners who do not comply with the new rules. Annex II demands that ship tanks are washed and waste discharged at port before a ship can continue her voyage. IMO members have agreed that ship owners which have not met the new conditions for fitting equipment and gaining certificates should face penalties from 6 April depending on the action they have taken to meet Annex II. Vessels which have not taken steps to comply with Annex II could face being banned from port or at least detained, involving expense to shipowners. This announcement has greatly angered shipowners as no similar action is planned against governments which do not install the reception facilities that are essential for vessels to meet the new conditions. There is increasing concern that the lack of provision of reception facilities at European ports will force owners to continue to discharge waste from their tanks at sea. The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has appealed for a 'clear understanding' of the position of shipowners visiting ports without reception facilities from 6 April. Technically these vessels could be detained in countries applying M A R P O L Annex 11 but not providing the port facilities to enable shipowners to meet the rules. It now appears necessary that IMO draws up further guidelines to be considered by port states in order to end the existing confusion and unequal application of the rules. ,l-,~o
lo
rlpennes for Nuclear Waste
DiSnOSal JIk,~',1L
ltJ
,1L
A UK-developed system of radioactive waste disposal at sea, which eliminates the twin dangers of burial of toxic waste on land and transport of it by ship, appears to be gaining international recognition with the recent announcement by the Talwanese that they are to build the system. The hydraulic-based system, which has been developed by Wheeler Offshore, includes a scheme whereby waste is packed into glass-lined canisters and loaded 147
been shown to be hazardous to both human and environmental health. According to the Belgian Secretary of State for the Environment the technical adjustments needed to manufacture the same substances without producing any titanium dioxide waste can be made relatively quickly, hence Belgium's prompt action in announcing it's ban on dumping,
Mercury Hot-spots of N.W. England
in Papua New Guinea also are active; the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, based in Noumea, has funded projects at the University of PNG, Port Moresby, and the PNG University of Technology, Lae, to monitor metals in waters, sediments and biota in the Fly River estuary and Gulf of Papua, areas which are much more likely to be affected by contamination than the Australian territory. L. S. H A M M O N D
MARPOL Penalties A~ n g e.-.r nlpowners
A recent report by the Government's official working , ~ _ . party o n heavy metals in food has recommended further reductions in mercury discharges into the sea. Although the report shows the average dietary intake of mercury to have been halved since 1976 and to be well within the limits set by the World Health Organization, mercury levels in fish have remained unchanged over this period and individuals who eat large quantities of fish may consume mercury in excess of the recommended provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of 300 gg week-1. The report highlights diet studies of two groups of such people from coastal communities in N.W. England where 12-13% had mercury intakes above the PTWI. In light of this, both the Committee on the Toxicity of Chemicals and the Food Advisory Committee have urged further curbs on mercury discharges into the sea. Because of the growing popularity of fish as part of the average diet, more stringent checks on fish mercury levels are also recommended, Both Liverpool Bay and Morecambe Bay are identified in the report as principle mercury 'hot-spots'. Last year chemical plants in the Liverpool Bay area were ordered to reduce their mercury loads in an effort to meet two EEC directives pertaining to mercury levels in fish. Further reductions may now be asked for although the company concerned contends that fish contamination is primarily the result of uptake from polluted sediments,
Hot-spot for Australia and n__rapua New Guinea Concern about heavy metals deriving from gold and copper mining at Ok Tedi, in the Papua New Guinea highlands, and discharged by the Fly River into the shallow TorTes Strait, has led to action on both sides of the Australia/Papua New Guinea border. The Australian Department of Arts, Heritage and Environment has recently funded a consultancy to design a TorTes Strait Pollution Baseline Study which, if approved, will be conducted over two years. Most of the continental shelf area of Tortes Strait, including its indigenous islander communities, falls under Australian jurisdiction, and there are concerns about effects of lead, copper, and mercury on resources exploited by the island communities, on protected species such as dugong and turtle, on commercial fisheries for prawns and lobsters, and on the coral reefs at the far northern end of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Researchers
World governments, led by the Netherlands, Japan, and the United States, plan strict introduction of the MARPOL Annex II chemical pollution prevention measures from 6 April and have decided to impose a sliding scale of penalties on shipowners who do not comply with the new rules. Annex II demands that ship tanks are washed and waste discharged at port before a ship can continue her voyage. IMO members have agreed that ship owners which have not met the new conditions for fitting equipment and gaining certificates should face penalties from 6 April depending on the action they have taken to meet Annex II. Vessels which have not taken steps to comply with Annex II could face being banned from port or at least detained, involving expense to shipowners. This announcement has greatly angered shipowners as no similar action is planned against governments which do not install the reception facilities that are essential for vessels to meet the new conditions. There is increasing concern that the lack of provision of reception facilities at European ports will force owners to continue to discharge waste from their tanks at sea. The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has appealed for a 'clear understanding' of the position of shipowners visiting ports without reception facilities from 6 April. Technically these vessels could be detained in countries applying M A R P O L Annex 11 but not providing the port facilities to enable shipowners to meet the rules. It now appears necessary that IMO draws up further guidelines to be considered by port states in order to end the existing confusion and unequal application of the rules. ,l-,~o
lo
rlpennes for Nuclear Waste
DiSnOSal JIk,~',1L
ltJ
,1L
A UK-developed system of radioactive waste disposal at sea, which eliminates the twin dangers of burial of toxic waste on land and transport of it by ship, appears to be gaining international recognition with the recent announcement by the Talwanese that they are to build the system. The hydraulic-based system, which has been developed by Wheeler Offshore, includes a scheme whereby waste is packed into glass-lined canisters and loaded 147