The purpose of this Regulation is to establish an accelerated phasing-in scheme for the application of the double-hull or equivalent design requirements of MARPOL 73/78, as defined in Article 3 of this Regulation, to single-hull oil tankers, and to ban the transport to or from ports of the Member States of heavy grade oil in single-hull oil tankers.
Article 2 -
Scope
1. This Regulation shall apply to oil tankers of 5 000 tonnes deadweight and above:
(a)
which fly the flag of a Member State;
(b)
irrespective of their flag, which enter or leave a port or offshore terminal or anchor in an area under the jurisdiction of a Member State.
For the purposes of Article 4(3), this Regulation shall apply to oil tankers of 600 tonnes deadweight and above.
2. This Regulation shall not apply to any warship, naval auxiliary or other ship, owned or operated by a State and used, for the time being, only on government non-commercial service. Member States shall, so far as is reasonable and practicable, endeavour to respect this Regulation for the ships referred to in this paragraph.
Article 3 -
Definitions
For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:
(1)
‘MARPOL 73/78’ means the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as amended by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto, in their up-to-date versions;
(2)
‘oil tanker’ means an oil tanker as defined in Regulation 1.5 of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78;
(3)
‘deadweight’ means deadweight as defined in Regulation 1.23 of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78;
(4)
‘Category 1 oil tanker’ means an oil tanker of 20 000 tonnes deadweight or above and carrying crude oil, fuel oil, heavy diesel oil or lubricating oil as cargo or of 30 000 tonnes deadweight or above and carrying oil other than the above and which does not comply with the requirements in Regulations 18.1 to 18.9, 18.12 to 18.15, 30.4, 33.1, 33.2, 33.3, 35.1, 35.2 and 35.3 of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78;
(5)
‘Category 2 oil tanker’ means an oil tanker of 20 000 tonnes deadweight or above and carrying crude oil, fuel oil, heavy diesel oil or lubricating oil as cargo or of 30 000 tonnes deadweight or above and carrying oil other than the above and which complies with the requirements in Regulations 18.1 to 18.9, 18.12 to 18.15, 30.4, 33.1, 33.2, 33.3, 35.1, 35.2 and 35.3 of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78 and is fitted with segregated ballast tanks protectively located (SBT/PL);
(6)
‘Category 3 oil tanker’ means an oil tanker of 5 000 tonnes deadweight or above but less than that specified in points (4) and (5);
(7)
‘single-hull oil tanker’ means an oil tanker which does not comply with the double-hull or equivalent design requirements in Regulations 19 and 28.6 of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78;
(8)
‘double-hull oil tanker’ means an oil tanker:
(a)
of 5 000 tonnes deadweight or above, complying with the double-hull or equivalent design requirements in Regulations 19 and 28.6 of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78 or with the requirements in Regulation 20.1.3 thereof; or
(b)
of 600 tonnes deadweight or above but less than 5 000 tonnes deadweight, fitted with double-bottom tanks or spaces complying with Regulation 19.6.1 of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78 and wing tanks or spaces arranged in accordance with Regulation 19.3.1 thereof and complying with the requirement as to distance w in Regulation 19.6.2 thereof;
(9)
‘age’ means the age of the ship, expressed in number of years from its date of delivery;
(10)
‘heavy diesel oil’ means diesel oil as defined in Regulation 20 of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78;
(11)
‘fuel oil’ means heavy distillates of crude oil or residues therefrom or blends of such materials as defined in Regulation 20 of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78;
(12)
‘heavy grade oil’ means:
(a)
crude oils of a density at 15 °C of over 900 kg/m3 (corresponding to an API grade of less than 25,7);
(b)
oils other than crude oils and of a density at 15 °C of over 900 kg/m3 or a kinematic viscosity at 50 °C of over 180 mm2/s (corresponding to a kinematic viscosity of over 180 cSt);
(c)
bitumen and tar and emulsions thereof.
Article 4 -
Compliance with the double-hull or equivalent design requirements by single-hull oil tankers
1. No oil tanker shall be allowed to operate under the flag of a Member State, nor shall any oil tanker, irrespective of its flag, be allowed to enter into ports or offshore terminals under the jurisdiction of a Member State unless such tanker is a double-hull oil tanker.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, oil tankers of Category 2 or Category 3 which are equipped only with double bottoms or double sides not used for the transport of oil and extending for the whole length of the cargo tank, or with double-hulled spaces not used for the transport of oil and extending for the whole length of the cargo tank, but which do not meet the conditions for exemption from the provisions of Regulation 20.1.3 of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78, may continue to be operated, but not beyond the anniversary of the date of delivery of the ship in the year 2015 or the date on which the ship reaches the age of 25 years from its date of delivery, whichever is the sooner.
3. No oil tanker carrying heavy grade oil shall be allowed to fly the flag of a Member State unless such tanker is a double-hull oil tanker.
No oil tanker carrying heavy grade oil, irrespective of its flag, shall be allowed to enter or leave ports or offshore terminals or to anchor in areas under the jurisdiction of a Member State, unless such tanker is a double-hull oil tanker.
4. Oil tankers operated exclusively in ports and inland navigation may be exempted from paragraph 3 provided that they are duly certified under inland waterway legislation.
Article 5 -
Compliance with the Condition Assessment Scheme
Irrespective of its flag, a single-hull oil tanker above 15 years of age shall not be allowed to enter or leave ports or offshore terminals or anchor in areas under the jurisdiction of a Member State unless such tanker complies with the Condition Assessment Scheme referred to in Article 6.
Article 6 -
Condition Assessment Scheme
For the purposes of Article 5, the Condition Assessment Scheme adopted by Resolution MEPC 94(46) of 27 April 2001 as amended by Resolution MEPC 99(48) of 11 October 2002 and by Resolution MEPC 112(50) of 4 December 2003, shall apply.
Article 7 -
Final date
After the anniversary of the date of delivery of the ship in 2015, the following shall no longer be allowed:
(a)
the continued operation, in accordance with Regulation 20.5 of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78, of Category 2 and Category 3 oil tankers under the flag of a Member State;
(b)
the entry into the ports or offshore terminals under the jurisdiction of a Member State of other Category 2 and Category 3 oil tankers, irrespective of the fact that they continue to operate under the flag of a third State in accordance with Regulation 20.5 of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78.
Article 8 -
Exemptions for ships in difficulty or for ships to be repaired
By way of derogation from Articles 4, 5 and 7, the competent authority of a Member State may, subject to national provisions, allow, under exceptional circumstances, an individual ship to enter or leave a port or offshore terminal or anchor in an area under the jurisdiction of that Member State, when:
(a)
an oil tanker is in difficulty and in search of a place of refuge;
(b)
an unloaded oil tanker is proceeding to a port of repair.
Article 9 -
Notification to the IMO
1. Each Member State shall inform the IMO of its decision to deny entry to oil tankers, pursuant to Article 7 of this Regulation, operating in accordance with Regulation 20.5 of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78 into the ports or offshore terminals under its jurisdiction, on the basis of Regulation 20.8.2 of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78.
2. Each Member State shall notify the IMO if it allows, suspends, withdraws or declines the operation of a Category 1 or a Category 2 oil tanker entitled to fly its flag, in accordance with Article 5 of this Regulation, on the basis of Regulation 20.8.1 of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78.
Article 10 -
Amendment procedure
1. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 11 concerning the alignment of the references in this Regulation to the non-substantial amendments, such as renumbering, adopted by the IMO to the Regulations of Annex I to MARPOL 73/78, as well as to Resolutions MEPC 111(50) and 94(46) as amended by Resolutions MEPC 99(48) and 112(50), in so far as such amendments do not broaden the scope of this Regulation.
2. The amendments to MARPOL 73/78 may be excluded from the scope of this Regulation, pursuant to Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 2099/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002 establishing a Committee on Safe Seas and the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (COSS) and amending the Regulations on maritime safety and the prevention of pollution from ships (9).
Article 11 -
Exercise of the delegation
1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this article.
2. The power to adopt the delegated acts referred to in Article 10(1) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from 20 July 2012. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period.
3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 10(1) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.
4. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.
5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 10(1) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and to the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.
Article 12 -
Repeal
Regulation (EC) No 417/2002 is repealed.
References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex II.
Article 13 -
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
