Regulation, Law, Compliance and Governance
Marine environmental legislation: MARPOL and its annexes glossary
Vocabulary of the six MARPOL annexes covering oil, noxious liquid substances, harmful packaged goods, sewage, garbage, and air pollution. Includes the Annex VI sulphur cap and NOx Tier limits, the EEDI, EEXI, and CII energy-efficiency measures, the IMO Net-Zero Framework and GHG Fuel Intensity standard, Special Areas and ECAs, the IOPP and IAPP certificates, and reception-facility requirements.
72 defined terms.
A
- Air Pollution
- Subject of MARPOL Annex VI.
- Annex I
- Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Oil.
- Annex II
- Regulations for the Control of Pollution by Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk.
- Annex III
- Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Harmful Substances in Packaged Form.
- Annex IV
- Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Sewage from Ships.
- Annex V
- Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships.
- Annex VI
- Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships.
- Antarctic Special Area
- Designated under MARPOL Annexes I, II, and V.
B
- Ballast Water
- Subject of the BWM Convention, separate from MARPOL.
- Baltic Sea ECA
- SOx-ECA and NOx-ECA under MARPOL Annex VI.
- Black Carbon
- Issue under MARPOL Annex VI, addressed through PPR work.
- Bunker Delivery Note (BDN)
- Required under MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 18.
C
- Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII)
- Operational indicator under MARPOL Annex VI Chapter 4.
- Cargo Record Book
- Required under MARPOL Annex II for NLS tankers.
- Category X, Y, Z, OS
- NLS categorization under MARPOL Annex II.
- CII
- Carbon Intensity Indicator: the annual operational efficiency rating (A to E) of a ship of 5,000 GT and above under MARPOL Annex VI Reg.28, read with MEPC.336(76).
- CO2 Equivalent
- Used in well-to-wake GHG intensity calculation under MARPOL Annex VI Chapter 5.
D
- Data Collection System (DCS)
- Required under MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 27.
- Discharge Criteria
- Quantitative limits under each MARPOL annex.
E
- ECA
- Emission Control Area for SOx, NOx, or PM under MARPOL Annex VI.
- EEDI
- Energy Efficiency Design Index, MARPOL Annex VI Chapter 4.
- EEXI
- Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index, MARPOL Annex VI Chapter 4.
- Engine International Air Pollution Prevention Certificate (EIAPP)
- Required under NOx Technical Code.
- Equivalent
- Alternative arrangement accepted under MARPOL Article 4(3).
F
- Fuel Oil
- Defined under MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 2.
- Fuel Oil Sample
- MARPOL-delivered sample retained under Regulation 18.
G
- Garbage Management Plan
- Required under MARPOL Annex V Regulation 10.
- Garbage Record Book
- Required under MARPOL Annex V Regulation 10.
- GFI
- GHG Fuel Intensity, regulatory metric under the IMO Net-Zero Framework agreed at MEPC 83.
- Green Passport
- Inventory of Hazardous Materials under the Hong Kong Convention.
H
- Harmful Substances
- Term used in MARPOL Annex III, defined by reference to the IMDG Code.
I
- IAPP Certificate
- International Air Pollution Prevention Certificate under MARPOL Annex VI.
- IBTS
- Integrated Bilge Treatment System concept under Annex I guidance.
- IEEC
- International Energy Efficiency Certificate under MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 8.
- In-Water Cleaning
- Addressed under MEPC.378(80) BWM and AFS interface guidelines.
- IOPP
- International Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate under MARPOL Annex I.
- ISPP Certificate
- International Sewage Pollution Prevention Certificate under MARPOL Annex IV.
L
- LNG as Fuel
- Addressed under MARPOL Annex VI for emission control and IGF Code for safety.
- Low-Flashpoint Fuel
- Regulated through MARPOL/IGF interface.
M
- MARPOL
- International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the 1978 and 1997 Protocols; the IMO treaty governing marine pollution across six annexes.
- MARPOL 73/78
- 1973 Convention as modified by the 1978 Protocol.
- MARPOL Special Area
- Sea area where mandatory discharge methods are more stringent.
- MEPC
- Marine Environment Protection Committee.
N
- Net-Zero Framework
- Mid-term GHG measures under MARPOL Annex VI Chapter 5, including GFI and IMO Net-Zero Fund.
- NLS Tanker
- Ship carrying noxious liquid substances under MARPOL Annex II.
- North American ECA
- Designated under MARPOL Annex VI.
- NOx Technical Code 2008
- Mandatory under MARPOL Annex VI.
O
- ODMCS
- Oil Discharge Monitoring and Control System under MARPOL Annex I.
- Oil Record Book Part I
- Machinery space operations on all ships of 400 GT and above.
- Oil Record Book Part II
- Cargo and ballast operations on oil tankers of 150 GT and above.
P
- Paris Agreement Linkage
- Referenced in IMO 2023 GHG Strategy.
- PIC
- Procedure and Arrangements Manual under MARPOL Annex II.
- PM (Particulate Matter)
- Limited indirectly through sulphur limits under MARPOL Annex VI.
- Polar Code (Environmental Part)
- Mandatory under MARPOL Annex I-V.
- Port Reception Facility
- Required under MARPOL Articles 11 and within each annex.
R
- Reception Facility
- Onshore facility for ship-generated wastes under MARPOL.
- Reduction Factor
- CII Z factor reducing annually under MARPOL Annex VI.
S
- Scrubber
- Exhaust gas cleaning system used as an equivalent under MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 4.
- SECA
- Sulphur Emission Control Area, terminology superseded by ECA.
- SEEMP
- Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan required for all ships of 400 GT and above under MARPOL Annex VI; Parts II and III apply to ships of 5,000 GT and above.
- SEEMP Part I, II, III
- Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan parts for management, DCS, and CII under MARPOL Annex VI.
- Segregated Ballast Tank
- Required configuration under MARPOL Annex I Regulation 18.
- Sewage Treatment Plant
- Approved under MEPC.227(64).
- Shipboard Marine Pollution Emergency Plan for NLS (SMPEP)
- Required under MARPOL Annex II Regulation 17.
- Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (SOPEP)
- Required under MARPOL Annex I Regulation 37.
- Slop Tank
- Tank for oily residues under MARPOL Annex I.
- Special Area
- Sea area with stricter discharge regime under MARPOL Annexes I, II, IV, and V.
- Sulphur Limit (0.10%)
- ECA limit under MARPOL Annex VI.
- Sulphur Limit (0.50%)
- Global limit on fuel oil sulphur in force since 1 January 2020 under MARPOL Annex VI.
T
- Tier I, II, III NOx Limits
- Engine NOx limits under NOx Technical Code, dependent on build date and area.
U
- Used Oil
- Treated under MARPOL Annex I oil definition.
W
- Well-to-Wake (WtW)
- GHG accounting basis for GFI under MARPOL Annex VI Chapter 5.
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