MARPOL Operations
Logbooks, procedures and environmental compliance: Oil Record Book, Sludge, Garbage, Bilge, SOPEP, Incinerator, Ballast Water, Fuel Changeover, Sewage, Bunker Delivery Note, Anti-Fouling Systems, VOC Management Plan, Discharges in Polar Waters and Polar Code, IMO DCS Transport Work and Advanced Granularity, North-East Atlantic ECA, Integrated Bilge Water Treatment System, 2026 Strategy on Marine Plastic Litter and the Future Pellet Code, New 2026 ECAs for the Canadian Arctic and Norwegian Sea, NOx Technical Code.
Each topic below brings together, in a single place: an operational explanation, the regulatory reference, scope of application, procedure, practical example, what typically goes wrong, common mistakes, what the Port State Control Officer (PSCO) checks, operational tips, a checklist and FAQ — with the regulatory reference verified against the primary source.
Oil Record Book — Part I (Machinery Space Operations)
The mandatory logbook documenting every oil-related operation in the machinery space: the first thing a Port State Control Officer (PSCO) asks to see on board.
Sludge Management
Storage and disposal of the oily residues generated by purifiers and separators: the point environmental inspectors scrutinise most closely.
Bilge Water Management
Discharging bilge water through the oily water separator (OWS): the procedure most exposed to illegal tampering.
Garbage Record Book
The shipboard waste log, with an applicability threshold recently extended and the Red Sea discharge requirements in effect since 2025.
SOPEP — Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan
The emergency plan for oil spills: it must be ready to use, not merely present on board.
Incinerator Operations
What can be incinerated on board, where it's prohibited, and how to keep track of the ash produced.
Ballast Water Management
Managing ballast water under the D-2 standard and the new record book format in force since 2025.
Change Over Fuel (Fuel Oil Changeover ECA)
The fuel changeover procedure at the entry/exit of Emission Control Areas: timings and records that inspectors always check.
MARPOL Annex VI — Prevention of Air Pollution
The full map of Annex VI: the three NOx Tiers of Regulation 13, the SOx and particulate matter ECAs of Regulation 14 and the NOx ECAs that are a different thing, ODS, VOCs, incineration, fuel quality and energy efficiency (EEXI, CII, DCS) — updated to 2026.
Sewage Management — MARPOL Annex IV
Discharging sewage seems simple until distance from the coast, the treatment plant's status and stricter local rules all intersect at once.
Bunker Delivery Note and MARPOL Sampling
The BDN is not just a delivery document: together with the MARPOL sample kept on board, it is the documentary proof of fuel compliance for the following 12 months.
Anti-Fouling Systems (AFS Convention)
From TBT to cybutryne: the AFS Convention keeps narrowing the list of permitted biocides in anti-fouling paints, with precise removal deadlines to meet.
VOC Management Plan
Mandatory for every crude oil tanker: the plan that minimises volatile organic compound emissions during loading, the voyage and discharge.
Discharges in Polar Waters: MARPOL Requirements and Polar Code Part II-A
In the Arctic, discharging oil is prohibited — but not «without exceptions»: the resolution that introduced the ban amended Regulation 4 of Annex I precisely in order to preserve them. And the Polar Code is not only about oil: for sewage and garbage it sets precise distances and sizes.
IMO DCS: Transport Work and Advanced Granularity from 2026
From 1 August 2025 Appendix IX to Annex VI is replaced: total transport work is due only from ships subject to Regulation 28, while advanced consumption granularity applies across the DCS from calendar year 2026.
New North-East Atlantic ECA: SOx, PM and NOx (MEPC 84)
A new emission control area is never news to read the day before entering it: from 1 September 2027 the North-East Atlantic is an ECA for sulphur, particulate matter and nitrogen oxides — the EEZs and territorial seas of Greenland, Iceland, the Faroes, Ireland and of the mainland parts only of the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Portugal — but the SOx and PM limits apply only from 1 September 2028.
New 2026 ECAs: Canadian Arctic and Norwegian Sea
Two new emission control areas have already been in force since 1 March 2026: the window to adjust passage planning and bunkering is narrower than it looks, because the SOx/PM limits kick in as early as 2027.
Integrated Bilge Water Treatment System: the New Regulation 12B
The title of the new Regulation states its object, and it is not the equipment: it is the tanks. MEPC 84 approved — it has not yet adopted — an architecture for collecting and disposing of bilge water that IMO guidance has described since 2008, and which reduces the load on the separator rather than replacing it.
IMO 2026 Strategy on Marine Plastic Litter and the Future Pellet Code
Zero plastic discharge from ships into the sea by 2030 is not a slogan: MEPC 84 adopted a strategy with a concrete action plan, and has already mandated a dedicated mandatory code for the carriage of plastic pellets in containers.
NOx Technical Code: Certification of Ammonia and Multi-Fuel Engines (MEPC 84)
Two distinct workstreams run on the NOx Technical Code: multiple engine operational profiles are already adopted and carry three firm dates, while certification of ammonia engines is still a draft awaited at MEPC 85. Conflating them makes it look as though nothing is in force.
Editorial revision of 9 August 2026 · page fingerprint 8e9d2a01cdb9