Development of technical onboard equipment in relation to the designation of the Baltic Sea as a special area under MARPOL Annex IV
THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION COMMITTEE,
RECALLING Article 38(a) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Marine Environment Protection Committee conferred upon it by the international conventions for the prevention and control of marine pollution,
RECALLING ALSO the amendments to MARPOL Annex IV adopted by resolution MEPC.200(62), which are expected to enter into force on 1 January 2013, prohibiting the discharge of sewage from passenger ships within a special area unless, in accordance with regulation 11.3 of MARPOL Annex IV, the passenger ship has in operation an approved sewage treatment plant which shall be type approved by the Administration, taking into account the standards and test methods developed by the Organization,
RECALLING FURTHER the work of the Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Equipment at its fifty-sixth session on the development of the revised guidelines on implementation of effluent standards and performance tests for sewage treatment plants,
BEING CONSCIOUS of the importance of the development and availability of adequate and cost-effective technical means so as to make it possible for the shipping industry to comply with the discharge standards under MARPOL Annex IV,
HAVING CONSIDERED the amendments to MARPOL Annex IV,
- CALLS for the development, without delay, of proven, adequate and cost-effective technical onboard equipment to make it possible to meet the discharge standards under regulation 11.3 of MARPOL Annex IV; and
- UNDERTAKES to keep under review the development of the revised guidelines on implementation of effluent standards and performance tests for sewage treatment plants.