MARPOL Annex VI and NTC 2008 with Guidelines for Implementation (IC664E) (2017 Edition)

This publication contains the consolidated texts of MARPOL Annex VI and the NOx Technical Code 2008, as well as all amendments up to those adopted at MEPC 70 in October 2016.

It also includes other regulatory guidance relevant to the application of MARPOL Annex VI and the NOx Technical Code 2008, covering topics such as:

• exhaust gas cleaning systems;
• the energy efficiency aspects of chapter 4
• selective catalytic reduction systems.

Foreword

Prevention of air pollution from ships

In the late 1980s, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) started work on prevention of air pollution from ships. These efforts were based on scientific information on adverse effects of emissions to air from a multitude of sources, ships being one of them, on human health and vulnerable ecosystems. This was something of a departure, as IMO’s focus, along with that of national regulators and of society as a whole, had previously been on more visible sources of ship-sourced pollution – for example, on oil spills resulting from major ship accidents. The harmful long-term effects of ships’ exhaust gases on human health and the

environment were not so immediately visible and had not earlier been fully recognized.

The seventeenth session of the IMO Assembly, in November 1991, recognizing the urgent necessity of establishing an international policy on prevention of air pollution from ships, considered and decided, in resolution A.719(17), to develop a new annex to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 (MARPOL Convention).

Following development of the regulatory text by IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), an International Conference of Parties to the MARPOL Convention was held in London from 15 to 26 September 1997. The Conference adopted the Protocol of 1997 to the MARPOL Convention, which added a new Annex VI, Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships, to the MARPOL Convention (MARPOL Annex VI). The Conference also adopted, by Conference resolution 2, the Technical Code on Control of Emission of Nitrogen Oxides from Marine Diesel Engines (NOx Technical Code), which is mandatory under MARPOL Annex VI.

The 1997 MARPOL Conference was a historic response by IMO to the need to minimize emissions from ships and their contribution to global air pollution and environmental problems. With the objective of achieving the desired reduction of NOx in the future, the 1997 Conference requested that the MEPC review the NOx emission limits at a minimum of five-year intervals after the entry into force of MARPOL Annex VI, and amend them as appropriate.

Following the entry into force of MARPOL Annex VI on 19 May 2005, MEPC 53 (July 2005) agreed to the revision of MARPOL Annex VI and the NOx Technical Code with the aim of significantly strengthening the emission limits in light of technological improvements and implementation experience, and then instructed the IMO Sub-Committee on Bulk Liquids and Gases to prepare the draft amendments to MARPOL Annex VI and NOx Technical Code. As a result, MEPC 58 (October 2008) considered and adopted the revised MARPOL Annex VI and the NOx Technical Code 2008, which entered into force on 1 July 2010.

Energy efficiency for ships

Although international shipping is the most energy efficient mode of mass cargo transport, a global approach to improve further its energy efficiency and effective emission control is considered important to limit impacts on human health and the environment should the demand for sea transportation continue to grow with the growth in world trade.

Resolution 8 on CO2 emissions from ships adopted by the 1997 MARPOL Conference invited the MEPC to undertake a study of CO2 emissions from ships for the purpose of establishing the amount and relative percentage of emissions from ships as part of the global CO2 inventory. The resolution also invited the MEPC to consider what CO2 reduction strategies might be feasible in light of the relationship between CO2 and other atmospheric and marine pollutants.

The twenty-second session of the IMO Assembly, in December 2003, adopted resolution A.963(23) on IMO Policies and Practices Related to the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Ships, which urged the MEPC to identify and develop the mechanisms needed to achieve limitation or reduction of GHG emissions from international shipping.

MEPC 59, in July 2009, developed a package of specific technical and operational reduction measures including interim guidelines for the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) and the Ships Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP). MEPC 62, in July 2011, adopted amendments to MARPOL Annex VI for inclusion of regulations on energy efficiency for ships. The amendments add a new chapter 4 on regulations on energy efficiency for ships, which make mandatory the EEDI for new ships, and the SEEMP for all ships above 400 gross tonnage. The new regulations entered into force on 1 January 2013.

Ongoing developments

The scope and requirements of MARPOL Annex VI continue to be developed. Principally, these cover the inclusion into the Annex of the audit schemes under the Instruments Implementation Code (III Code),as given by a new chapter 5, and the inclusion of the data collection system for fuel oil consumption of ships into chapter 4. Additionally, amongst other amendments, the application dates of the first NOx Tier III requirements and the 0.50% fuel oil sulphur limit have been confirmed and the scope of application of the

EEDI requirements has been widened. In reflection of the extension of the NOx control requirements to also include gas-fuelled marine diesel engines, the NOx Technical Code 2008 has been amended to cover such engines and to provide additional detail as regards application of the Code to dual-fuelled engines.

Consolidated texts of MARPOL Annex VI and the NOx Technical Code 2008

This fourth edition contains the consolidated texts of MARPOL Annex VI and the NOx Technical Code 2008, as adopted by resolutions MEPC.176(58) and MEPC.177(58) respectively, as amended by subsequent resolutions through to those adopted at MEPC 70, in October 2016. Also included, to that date, are the latest versions of guidelines and other information relevant to the application of MARPOL Annex VI and the NOx Technical

Code 2008.

As a specialised agency of the United Nations, IMO is the global standard-setting authority for the safety, security and environmental performance of international shipping. Its main role is to create a regulatory framework for the shipping industry that is fair and effective, universally adopted and universally implemented.

In other words, its role is to create a level playing-field so that ship operators cannot address their financial issues by simply cutting corners and compromising on safety, security and environmental performance. This approach also encourages innovation and efficiency.

Shipping is a truly international industry, and it can only operate effectively if the regulations and standards are themselves agreed, adopted and implemented on an international basis. And IMO is the forum at which this process takes place.