Legal provisions of COM(2000)142-4 - Accelerated phasing-in of double hull or equivalent design requirements for single hull oil tankers

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dossier COM(2000)142-4 - Accelerated phasing-in of double hull or equivalent design requirements for single hull oil tankers.
document COM(2000)142 EN
date February 18, 2002


Contents

Article 1 - Purpose

The purpose of this Regulation is to establish an accelerated phasing-in scheme for the application of the double hull or equivalent design requirements of the MARPOL 73/78 Convention to single hull oil tankers.

Article 2 - Scope

1. This Regulation shall apply to oil tankers of 5000 tons deadweight and above:

- entering into a port or offshore terminal under the jurisdiction of a Member State, irrespective of their flag, or

- flying the flag of a Member State.

2. This Regulation shall not apply to any warship, naval auxiliary or other ship, owned or operated by a State and used, for the time being, only on government non-commercial service. Member States shall, so far as is reasonable and practicable, endeavour to respect this Regulation for the ships referred to in this paragraph.

Article 3 - Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

1. 'MARPOL 73/78' shall mean the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto together with the amendments thereto, in force on 18 February 2002;

2. 'revised Regulation 13G of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78' shall mean the amendments to Regulation 13G of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78 and to the Supplement to the IOPP Certificate, as adopted by Resolution MEPC 94(46) of 27 April 2001 which enters into force on 1 September 2002;

3. 'oil tanker' shall mean an oil tanker as defined in Regulation 1(4) of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78;

4. 'deadweight' shall mean deadweight as defined in Regulation 1(22) of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78;

5. 'new oil tanker' shall mean a new oil tanker as defined in Regulation 1(26) of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78;

6. 'category (1) oil tanker' shall mean an oil tanker of 20000 tons deadweight and above carrying crude oil, fuel oil, heavy diesel oil or lubricating oil as cargo, and of 30000 tons deadweight and above carrying oil other than the above, which does not comply with the requirements for new oil tankers as defined in Regulation 1(26) of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78;

7. 'category (2) oil tanker' shall mean an oil tanker of 20000 tons deadweight and above carrying crude oil, fuel oil, heavy diesel oil or lubricating oil as cargo, and of 30000 tons deadweight and above carrying oil other than the above, which complies with the requirements for new oil tankers as defined in Regulation 1(26) of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78;

8. 'category (3) oil tanker' shall mean an oil tanker of 5000 tons deadweight and above but less than that specified in definitions 6 and 7;

9. 'single hull oil tanker' shall mean an oil tanker not meeting the double hull or equivalent design requirements of Regulation 13F of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78;

10. 'double hull oil tanker' shall mean an oil tanker meeting the double hull or equivalent design requirements of Regulation 13F of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78;

11. 'age' shall mean the age of the ship, expressed in number of years after the date of its delivery;

12. 'heavy diesel oil' shall mean diesel oil as defined in revised Regulation 13G of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78;

13. 'fuel oil' shall mean heavy distillates or residues from crude oil or blends of such materials as defined in revised Regulation 13G of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78.

Article 4 - Compliance with the double hull or equivalent design requirements by single hull oil tankers

1. No oil tanker shall be allowed to operate under the flag of a Member State, nor shall any oil tanker, irrespective of its flag, be allowed to enter into ports or offshore terminals under the jurisdiction of a Member State after the anniversary of the date of delivery of the ship in the year specified hereafter, unless such tanker is a double hull oil tanker:

(a) for category (1) oil tankers:

- 2003 for ships delivered in 1973 or earlier,

- 2004 for ships delivered in 1974 and 1975,

- 2005 for ships delivered in 1976 and 1977,

- 2006 for ships delivered in 1978, 1979 and 1980,

- 2007 for ships delivered in 1981 or later;

(b) for category (2) oil tankers:

- 2003 for ships delivered in 1973 or earlier,

- 2004 for ships delivered in 1974 and 1975,

- 2005 for ships delivered in 1976 and 1977,

- 2006 for ships delivered in 1978 and 1979,

- 2007 for ships delivered in 1980 and 1981,

- 2008 for ships delivered in 1982,

- 2009 for ships delivered in 1983,

- 2010 for ships delivered in 1984,

- 2011 for ships delivered in 1985,

- 2012 for ships delivered in 1986,

- 2013 for ships delivered in 1987,

- 2014 for ships delivered in 1988,

- 2015 for ships delivered in 1989 or later;

(c) for category (3) oil tankers:

- 2003 for ships delivered in 1973 or earlier,

- 2004 for ships delivered in 1974 and 1975,

- 2005 for ships delivered in 1976 and 1977,

- 2006 for ships delivered in 1978 and 1979,

- 2007 for ships delivered in 1980 and 1981,

- 2008 for ships delivered in 1982,

- 2009 for ships delivered in 1983,

- 2010 for ships delivered in 1984,

- 2011 for ships delivered in 1985,

- 2012 for ships delivered in 1986,

- 2013 for ships delivered in 1987,

- 2014 for ships delivered in 1988,

- 2015 for ships delivered in 1989 or later.

2. A Category (1) oil tanker of 25 years and over after the date of its delivery shall comply with either of the following provisions:

(a) it shall have wing tanks or double bottom spaces, not used for the carriage of oil and meeting the width and height requirements of Regulation 13E(4) of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78, cover at least 30 % of Lt, for the full depth of the ship on each side or at least 30 % or the projected bottom shell area within Lt where Lt is as defined in Regulation 13E(2) of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78, or

(b) it shall operate with hydrostatically balanced loading, taking into account the guidelines developed by the IMO Resolution MEPC 64(36).

Article 5 - Compliance with the Condition Assessment Scheme for Category (1) and Category (2) ships

1. An oil tanker shall not be allowed to enter into ports or offshore terminals under the jurisdiction of a Member State beyond the anniversary of the date of delivery of the ship, in 2005 for Category (1) ships, and in 2010 for Category (2) ships, unless it complies with the Condition Assessment Scheme referred to in Article 6.

2. The competent authorities of a Member State may allow an oil tanker flying the flag of that Member State to continue operation beyond the anniversary of the date of delivery of the ship in 2005 for Category (1) ships and in 2010 for Category (2) ships, but only when subject to compliance with the Condition Assessment Scheme referred to in Article 6.

Article 6 - Condition Assessment Scheme

For the purposes of Article 5, the Condition Assessment Scheme adopted by MEPC Resolution 94(46) of 27 April 2001 shall apply.

Article 7 - Final date

After the anniversary of the date of delivery of the ship in 2015:

- the continued operation, in accordance with paragraph 5 of revised Regulation 13G of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78, of Category (2) and Category (3) oil tankers under the flag of a Member State, and

- the entry into the ports or offshore terminals under the jurisdiction of a Member State of other Category (2) and Category (3) oil tankers, irrespective of the fact that they continue to operate under the flag of a third State in accordance with paragraph 5 of revised Regulation 13G of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78,

shall no longer be allowed.

Article 8 - Exemptions for ships in difficulty or for ships to be repaired

1. By way of derogation from Articles 4, 5 and 7, the competent authority of a Member State may, subject to national provisions, allow, under exceptional circumstances, an individual ship to enter the ports or offshore terminals under the jurisdiction of that Member State, when:

- an oil tanker is in difficulty and in search of a place of refuge,

- an unloaded oil tanker is proceeding to a port of repair.

2. Member States shall, in due time, but before 1 September 2002, communicate to the Commission the provisions of national law which they will apply in the circumstances referred to in paragraph 1. The Commission shall inform the other Member States thereof.

Article 9 - Notification to the IMO

1. The Presidency of the Council, acting on behalf of the Member States, and the Commission shall jointly inform the IMO of the adoption of this Regulation, whereby reference shall be made to Article 211, paragraph 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

2. Each Member State shall inform the IMO of its decision to deny entry of oil tankers, pursuant to Article 7 of this Regulation, operating in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 5 of revised Regulation 13G of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78 into the ports or offshore terminals under its jurisdiction, on the basis of paragraph 8(b) of revised Regulation 13G of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78.

3. Each Member State shall notify the IMO if it allows, suspends, withdraws or declines the operation of a Category (1) or a Category (2) oil tanker entitled to fly its flag, in accordance with Article 5, on the basis of paragraph 8(a) of revised Regulation 13G of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78.

Article 10 - Committee procedure

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the committee set up pursuant to Article 12(1) of Council Directive 93/75/EEC(9), hereinafter referred to as 'the Committee'.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.

3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 11 - Amendment procedure

The references in the Articles of this Regulation to the regulations of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78 and to Resolutions MEPC 94(46) and 95(46) shall, if appropriate, be amended in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 10(2), in order to bring the references into line with amendments to these regulations and resolutions adopted by the IMO, in so far as such amendments do not broaden the scope of this Regulation.

Article 12 - Repeal

Council Regulation (EC) No 2978/94 is hereby repealed as from 31 December 2007.

Article 13 - Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

It shall apply from 1 September 2002.


This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.