BALTIC SEAENVIRONMENT PROCEEDINGS No. 59 - Helcom

HELCOM SEMINAR 1993
Riga, Latvia
30 August - 3 September 1993
IMO CONVENTIONS IN THE FIELD OF MARINE POLLUTIoaJ PRIsvENTIm,
PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE
0. Khal imonov
International Maritime Organization (IMO)
International Convention for the PreVentiOn of Pollution from ShiDS 1973. as
modified bv the Protocol of 1978 relatina thereto (MARPOL 73178)
The enormous growth in the maritime transport of oil and the size of tankers,
the increasing amount of chemicals being carried at sea and a growing concern
for the world's environment as a whole made many countries feel that the 1954
OILPOL Convention was no longer adeguate, despite the various amendments which
had been adopted.
In 1969, the IMO Assembly - inspired partly by the Torrev Canm disaster
of two years before - decided to convene an international conference to adopt
a completely new convention. The conference met in London in 1973.
The Convention which resulted is the most comprehensive international
treaty covering maritime pollution ever adopted. It deals not only with oil,
but will all forms of marine pollution except the disposal of land-generated
waste into the sea by dumping (which was covered by another convention adopted
the previous year).
Most of me technical~zmsures are included in five annexesto
the convention wlkh'deal respectively with the follawirrg:
Annex I - Oil
Annex II- Noxious liquid _mbstanzs carried in blk (e.g.
ckmicals)
Annex III - Ha3mful substanu=s carried in packages (e.g.
tanksandcontainers)
Annex IV- Sewage
Annex V- Garbage
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