Hong Kong Regulations

MERCHANT SHIPPING (CONTROL OF POLLUTION BY NOXIOUS LIQUID SUBSTANCES IN BULK) REGULATIONS - REGULATION 11

Categories B and C residual mixtures - discharge

(1) The discharge into the sea of a Category B residual mixture or a Category
C residual mixture is prohibited except where all the following conditions are
complied with-

   (a)  all relevant requirements of regulations 7 to 10 have been complied
        with;

   (b)  the concentration of the substance in, and the rate of discharge of,
        the effluent is in accordance with the procedures and arrangements
        specified in respect of substances of the category in question in the
        ship's Procedures and Arrangements Manual;

   (c)  the ship is proceeding at a speed of at least 7 knots in the case of a
        self-propelled ship or at least 4 knots in the case of a ship which is
        not self-propelled;

   (d)  the discharge is made below the water line;

   (e)  the discharge is made at a distance of not less than 12 nautical miles
        from the nearest land and in a depth of water of not less than 25
        meters; and

   (f)  (i) if the ship is in a Special Area and the substance in question is
        a Category B substance, the tank from which the discharge is made has
        been pre-washed (whether or not such pre-wash was required by
        regulation 9) in accordance with the procedure specified in the ship's
        Procedures and Arrangements Manual for the substance in question and
        the resulting tank washings have been discharged to a
        reception facility; or

        (ii)   if the ship is in a Special Area and the substance is a
               Category C substance the maximum quantity of the substance
               discharged from any one tank and its associated piping system
               does not exceed the maximum quantity approved in the ship's
               Procedures and Arrangements Manual for discharge of
               Category C substances in a Special Area.

(1A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), any such discharge is prohibited in
the Antarctic area. (L.N. 186 of 1995)

(2) Where a tank which contained a Category B or Category C residual mixture
has been emptied by a discharge made in accordance with paragraph (1), water
thereafter added to that tank may be discharged notwithstanding that the ship
is not proceeding as required by paragraph

(1)(c), provided that all the other requirements of that paragraph are
complied with. (Enacted 1987)