Protection of Fuel Tanks Safety ahead! - GL Group

Waste Overboard?
Proper waste disposal is of central signifi cance for the safety of crew and cargo, the environment
and, last but not least, the image of the shipping company. At the GL Academy, experts
are on hand to refresh the knowledge and skills of the participants
Green, grey and brown refuse bins, yellow disposal
bags, special containers for paper, green glass and
white glass are waiting in the towns. And they are
regularly collected by refuse collectors. Getting rid of
refuse is no problem for landlubbers. Things are a bit more
difficult on the high seas. Where can a captain dump his
plastic bottles when at that moment he is cruising between
Kiribati and Nauru? What to do with all the greasy cleaning
rags, the banana skins, the oil residues from the engine
room, and the used hypodermics from the sickbay? “Waste
overboard” is certainly one answer – but not a very environmentally
friendly one. Seals perish in plastic foil, and
fishes get caught in bags or die from swallowing splinters
of glass. But the safety of the crew and cargo too is at risk.
Chemicals that are not disposed of in the proper manner
can lead to fires and explosions, while bits of plastic floating
in the waves can clog up cooling water inlets or block
the propeller.
Apart from that, the simple throw-away solution is completely
illegal in many cases.
Laws are in place on all levels to restrict the disposal of
waste from ships. The International Maritime Organization,
each flag state, every coastal nation, ports and shipowners,
associations such as INTERTANKO, the International
Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL), the Baltic and International
Maritime Council (BIMCO) and the International Chamber
of Shipping (ICS) – have all issued their own recommendations
and regulations on waste management. In this tangled
web of legislation, it is difficult to keep a clear overview.
Exchange across Industry Sectors
The necessary clarity is given by the “Waste Management”
seminar offered by the GL Academy. Henning Gramann,
environmental engineer and specialist for maritime waste
management at Germanischer Lloyd, conducts this course
for the ships’ masters and crews of merchant ships and
cruise liners, for the staff of port reception facilities and
disposal companies, and also for plant manufacturers. The
seminar’s objective is to inform the participants about the
statutory and technical fundamentals as well as new developments
in waste disposal. In addition, checks by the
authorities, the obligation for reporting and recording
disposal actions, and optimization of waste management
activities on board are also on the agenda. This one-day
seminar in Hamburg offers the participants from a wide
range of fields many opportunities for an exchange of experience,
and also throws up topical issues that stimulate
controversial discussions.
Tons of Sludge, Cooking Oil and Wood
Every day, a 2100 TEU container ship with a main engine of
12,500 kilowatts uses up 53,000 litres of fuel and 140 litres
of lubricating oil. The “ship’s leftovers” include two tons of
Photo: Jorgen Udvang – FOTOLIA
MARPOL | MARITIME SERVICES
oil residues, 5 to 10 cubic metres of oily bilge water, 160
tonnes of carbon dioxide, 0.9 tonnes of carbon monoxide,
4.3 tonnes of sulphur compounds, and 2.7 tonnes of nitrogen
oxides. And such a cargo ship is one of the more economical
vessels. Added to this, you have the leftovers from
the messroom and galley, the empty tins of paint, dunnage
wood, shrink-wrap, cargo remainders, ...
The boom in shipping is making it all the more important
to ensure that these remnants do not end up in the sea.
The oceans are largely unexplored. We know more about
the moon than about the icy depths. But one thing is sure:
whatever is put into the sea will pop up again somewhere,
sometime. For example, a packet of crisps was found in
Antarctica. Its best-before date had long since elapsed, so
it had probably been drifting about for many years. Such
a plastic bag takes years to decompose. Even a garment of
natural wool needs a whole year to decay, treated wood
takes 13 years, a tin is estimated to last a century, and plastic
bottles over 450 years. With the aim of protecting the SHANGHAI.
oceans, the International Maritime A single-hull Organization tanker under (IMO) construction.
formulated MARPOL as a globally binding convention to
prevent marine pollution by ships. The basic principle of
MARPOL Annex V, for instance, is to make sure that, of all
the waste produced by ships, as little as possible passes
into the sea. Instead, the waste is to be transferred to port
reception facilities.
Tighter Regulations
All seafaring nations have pledged to observe MARPOL.
From the viewpoint of some states, the restrictions go too
far, but many other countries believe the requirements
STAPLE GOODS. Full containers with on-board wastes wait at the
dock for collection.
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