HISTORY

Oil pollution of the seas was

recognized as a problem in the first
half of the 20th century.

Various countries introduced national
regulations to control discharges of
oil within their territorial waters.
EVOLUTION
In 1954, the United Kingdom
organized a conference on oil pollution
which resulted in the adoption of the
International Convention for the
Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by
Oil (OILPOL), 1954.

OILPOL
Entered into force on 26 July 1958

Amendments in 1962, 1969 and
1971

OBJECTIVE
Attempted to Tackle the
problem of pollution of the
seas by oil - crude oil, fuel oil,
heavy diesel oil and lubricating
oil in two main ways.

The 2 ways
PROHIBITED ZONES 50M FROM
NEAREST LAND + DISCHARGE OF OIL
<100PPM
CONTRACTING PARTIES - SHORE
RECEPTION FACILITIES
FOCUS..
The 1954 Convention, primarily addressed
pollution resulting from routine tanker
operations and from the discharge of oily
wastes from machinery spaces - regarded
as the major causes of oil pollution from
ships.


ALTERNATIVE
Although the 1954 OILPOL Convention went
some way in dealing with oil pollution, growth
in oil trade and developments in industrial
practices were beginning to make it clear
that further action, was required.
THE DISASTER
In 1967, the tanker Torrey Canyon ran
aground while entering the English
Channel and spilled her entire cargo of
120,000 tons of crude oil into the
sea. This resulted in the biggest oil
pollution incident ever recorded up to
that time.
SETTING THE SCENE
The ship Left Kuwait, 19 February 1967
with full cargo of oil, bound for the
Atlantic ocean.
Reached Canary Isles 14 March 1967
Informed of destination - Milford Haven,
by 18/Mar/1967
Because of the size of the ship, they had
to catch the high tide at 11.00 p.m., or wait
6 days more. They had to be at the
entrance by 6.00 p.m. on 18 March.
AT SCILLY ISLES
'Torrey Canyon' approaching
the Scilly Isles on the morning
of the disaster. The sketch
is a map of the south-western
end of Great Britain and shows
the position of the 'Torrey
Canyon' when this part of the
story starts. The gap between
the Scilly Isles and Land's End
is about 20 miles; the gap
between the Scilly Isles and
Milford Haven is about 200
miles.
Captain went to bed the night before at 03.30 a.m., with
instructions to be woken at 6.00 a.m.
Captain woken at 06.00 a.m., Scilly Isles still not in radar view
(the radar had a range of 40 miles). Captain decides to sleep
some more.
Captain woken again at 06.30 a.m. Scilly Isles now on the radar
scope, but on Port side, not to Stbd.
After short discussion, captain orders "continue course"
07.00 a.m., Captain on bridge
0800 a.m., Changeover of the watch: captain, junior officer (1st
trip) + experienced helmsman now on the bridge.
Junior officer assigned navigation duties.
Helmsman on watch on bridge wings.
08.15 a.m. Torrey Canyon is now passing the Scilly Isles, 30
minutes to Seven Stones reef .
Captain orders a course alteration while on autopilot
THE PROGRESSION
There are reefs all round
Land's End and round the Scilly
Isles (look at all the
lighthouses). Two particularly
dangerous ones are 'Wolf Rock',
and 'Seven Stones'. 'Wolf
Rock' has a lighthouse;
'Seven Stones' has a lightship.

The Captain planned to sail
between the Scilly Isles and the
'Seven Stones'. This channel is
7 miles wide. The tide then was
running Port to Stbd, and the
reef was submerged.
Fishing vessels in channel; captain alters to Stbd of
channel (closer to the 'Seven Stones' reef) to avoid
the nets.
08.40 a.m. They discover a plotting error; quickly,
they re-plot their position; now, they discover they
are only 2.8 miles from the edge of the reef

Helmsman at the wheel - hurried course change to
North.
Autopilot switched to manual steering steer new
course back onto autopilot to listen for the clicks
Re-plot position - still heading for reef
Emergency course change to 340 degrees (about
North-west).
Steering Changed over to manual mode.
Position rechecked.
Captain goes into the chartroom at the back of the
bridge to look again at the chart. Helmsman shouts
that vessel not steering.

Captain decides that the fuses have blown (this had
happened before); opens fuse box and checks them.
Fuses OK; therefore the oil pumps that move the
rudder must be at fault (this too had happened
before)
Captain rings the engine room to get the pumps
checked; by mistake, he dials the wrong number and
gets the galley. The cook picks up the phone and says,
"Oh, captain, your breakfast is ready."
Captain glances at the autopilot control lever;
realises what the problem is; moves the lever to
manual, changes course
THE END GAME
Too late- At 17 knots, Torrey Canyon hits
Pollard's Rock in the Seven Stones reef, and
rips open 6 tanks.
Over the next few weeks, all the oil escaped and
spread along the shores of the south coast of
England and the Normandy coast of France.
There were no plans to combat this; it was the first
of the big oil disasters, and what was attempted
was either too late, too small in scope, or made
matters worse. But much was learnt from this
disaster.

LOST
TORREY CANYON
BROKEN
INTO
TWO
HALVES
THE REACTION
The incident raised questions about
measures then in place to prevent oil
pollution from ships. It also exposed
deficiencies in the existing system for
providing compensation following
accidents at sea.

RESPONSE
IMO called an Extraordinary session of its
Council, which drew up a plan of action on
technical and legal aspects of the Torrey
Canyon incident. Then, the IMO Assembly
decided in 1969 to convene an international
conference in 1973 to prepare a suitable
international agreement for placing
restraints on the contamination of the sea,
land and air by ships.

INTERNATIONAL
CONVENTION
Finally, an international Conference in
1973 adopted the International
Convention for the Prevention of
Pollution from Ships.
FOCUS ON
OPERATIONAL POLLUTION
CHEMICAL POLLUTION
HARMFUL SUBSTANCE IN PACKAGES
SEWAGE
GARBAGE
DELAY..
The 1973 Convention required ratification by
15 States, with a combined merchant fleet
of not less than 50 percent of world shipping
by gross tonnage, to enter into force.
By 1976, it had only received three
ratifications Jordan, Kenya and Tunisia
representing less than one percent of the
world's merchant shipping fleet.
DELAY..
This was despite the fact that States could
become Party to the Convention by only
ratifying Annexes I (oil) and II (chemicals).
Annexes III to V, covering harmful goods in
packaged form, sewage and garbage, were
optional.

It began to look as though the 1973
Convention might never enter into force,
despite its importance.

1978 conference
In response to a spate of tanker
accidents in 1976-1977, IMO held a
Conference on Tanker Safety and
Pollution Prevention in February 1978.
The conference adopted measures
affecting tanker design and operation.

1978 conference
Measures were incorporated in to the
1973 International Convention for
the Prevention of Pollution from
Ships (1978 MARPOL Protocol)
adopted on 17 February 1978.

The 1978 MARPOL Protocol allowed
States to become Party to the Convention by
first implementing Annex I (oil), as it was
decided that Annex II (chemicals) would not
become binding until three years after the
Protocol entered into force.

This gave States time to overcome technical
problems in Annex II, which for some had
been a major obstacle in ratifying the
Convention

MARPOL1973/78
As the 1973 Convention had not yet entered
into force, the 1978 MARPOL Protocol
absorbed the parent Convention. The
combined instrument - the International
Convention for the Prevention of Marine
Pollution from Ships, 1973 as modified by
the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto
(MARPOL 73/78) - finally entered into
force on 2 October 1983
(for Annexes I and II).

SIGNIFICANCE
The adoption of the MARPOL Convention in
1973 was an important step in focusing the
shipping industry's attention on the
environment.

It was no longer enough just to ensure
goods and people were transported safely
Consideration for the environment was now on
the agenda.

IMPACT
MARPOL
The Convention includes regulations
aimed at preventing and minimizing
pollution from ships - both accidental
pollution and that from routine
operations .

Currently includes SIX technical
Annexes
ANNEXES
Annex I - Regulations for the
Prevention of Pollution by Oil
Annex II -Regulations for the Control
of Pollution by Noxious
Liquid Substances in Bulk
Annex III-Prevention of Pollution by
Harmful Substances Carried
by Sea in Packaged form
ANNEXES
Annex IV-Prevention of Pollution by
Sewage from Ships

Annex V - Prevention of Pollution by
Garbage from Ships

Annex VI-Prevention of Air Pollution
from Ships
POSSIBLE FUTURE
ANNEXES
UNWANTED AQUATIC ORGANISM
IN BALLAST WATER

TOXIC ANTIFOULING PAINTS