Regulation
26 of Annex I of MARPOL 73/78 requires that oil tankers of 150 tons gross
tonnage or more and all ships of 400 tons gross tonnage or more carry an
approved shipboard oil pollution plan (SOPEP). The International
Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation, 1990,
also requires such a plan for certain ships.
Regulation
16 of Annex II of MARPOL 73/78 makes similar stipulations for all ships of
150 tons gross tonnage and above carrying noxious liquid substances in
bulk: they are required to carry on board an approved marine pollution
emergency plan for noxious liquid substances.
The latter
should be combined with a SOPEP, since most of their contents are the same
and the combined plan is more practical than two separate ones in case of
an emergency. To make it clear that the plan is a combined one, it should
be referred to as a shipboard marine pollution emergency plan (SMPEP).
The
Guidelines for the Development of Shipboard Marine Pollution Emergency
Plans have been developed by IMO to help Administrations and shipowners
meet these requirements.
