Annex – Supplementary Guidelines for Approval of Bilge and Sludge Handling Systems
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Annex – Supplementary Guidelines for Approval of Bilge and Sludge Handling Systems

  1 Approval of a ship's bilge water and oil residues (sludge) handling system should in the main be based upon how to ensure compliance with MARPOL requirements in the daily operation of the ship.

  2 Consideration should be given to the system layout so that there are no operational constraints to personnel, to facilitate compliance with MARPOL Annex I requirements,

  3 The ability to discharge oil or an oily mixture into the sea, which may be necessary for emergency purposes (cf. regulation 4 of MARPOL Annex I), should continue to be an integral part of the approval of a ship's bilge water and oil residues (sludge) handling system.

  4 Plan approval by Administrations must include a specific element of verification of compliance with the technical and operative requirements of MARPOL Annex I in relation to engine-room operations.

  5 Outlined below are some of the most important aspects which should be verified:

  • .1 as this verification comprises, amongst others, calculation of required oil residues (sludge) tank capacity with consideration to Unified Interpretation 15.1, it follows that there is, albeit implicit so, a necessity to determine which tanks are in fact oil residues (sludge) tanks listed in table 3.1 of the Supplement to the IOPP Certificate);

  • .2 at this plan approval stage, it should also be recommended to issue a draft Supplement to the IOPP Certificate containing all the information available at plan approval stage pertaining to the Supplement to the IOPP Certificate. This draft Supplement should ensure consistency between the plan approval and the supplement to the IOPP certificate as issued by the Administration at completion of the initial survey;

  • .3 the Administration should give consideration to the unified interpretations pertaining to regulations 12 and 14, UI 15 to UI 21, including their subparagraphs, and in particular Unified Interpretation 17.1.3, which prohibits common bilge water and sludge piping other than the common discharge pipe leading to the shore connections manifold as required by regulation 13 of Annex I. This UI is, for instance, violated when using the common discharge pipe as an internal sludge transfer pipe between sludge tanks;

  • .4 the Administration should verify that bilge pumps cannot take suction from oil residue (sludge) tanks;

  • .5 the Administration should verify that sludge pumps cannot discharge to bilge water holding tanks;

  • .6 the Administration should verify that the effluent from oily water separator systems cannot be intentionally diluted at any point upstream of the oil content monitor in these systems. In this context, the need for installation of pipes depending on the design of the system used for cleaning and filling of the oily water separator and zero adjusting of 15 ppm alarm, should also be considered taking in account the design requirement and paragraph 4.2.10.2 in the Revised guidelines and specifications for pollution prevention equipment for machinery bilges of ships (resolution MEPC.107(49)); and

  • .7 the Administration should verify that no part of the engine-room bilge water system forms part of any direct operational bilge water discharge system, such as cargo hold bilge discharge or anchor chain locker discharge. In this respect the Administration should take into account SOLAS chapter II-1, regulation 21 (Bilge pumping arrangements).

Parent topic: MEPC.1/Circular.641 – Supplementary Guidelines for Approval of Bilge and Sludge Handling Systems – (11 November 2008)
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