Environment Impact and Protection in Maritime Industry

ENVIRONMENT IMPACT AND PROTECTION IN MARITIME INDUSTRY 1
`ENVIRONMENT IMPACT AND PROTECTION IN MARITIME INDUSTRY
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ENVIRONMENT IMPACT AND PROTECTION IN MARITIME INDUSTRY 2
Abstract
Maritime possess a great ecological threat. Various vessels in the maritime industry directly
impact on the environment. This paper investigates environmental impact and protection in the
maritime industry. There are various international Maritime Organization (IMO) and the
International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MAPROL) aimed at
preventing and limiting pollution in the maritime industry. The commonest among them being;
Ballast water management plan, shipboard oil pollution emergency plan, internal oil pollution
prevention, international air pollution prevention, international energy efficiency cert, and
garbage management plan among so many other conventions addressing various pollutions
caused by ships. The research paper discusses each convention into details and how they
managed to address various sources of maritime pollution. The convention on prevention of air
pollution, for example addressed the issue of air pollution by setting up emission limits for any
toxic gas produced by the ships. This convention defines the limit for emission of rates of gases
for instance, sulfur emissions should not exceed 0.5%. Garbage management plan addressed
pollution caused by garbage by defining each type of garbage and their respective means of
disposal. It defines the distance a garbage release from ships should cover from the disposal
point. It also defines the various types of garbage by outlining those that completely banned from
being released in the sea water. International oil convention asserts that all ships should be fitted
by double hulls aimed at limiting accidental spillage of oil into the sea water. It also defines oil
residues that can be released into sea water. The energy efficiency convention regulated the
energy performance index of all ships while considering the IMO guidelines. Ship oil pollution
emergency plan dictates the various actions in cases of accidental spillage.

ENVIRONMENT IMPACT AND PROTECTION IN MARITIME INDUSTRY 3
Introduction
Various pollutants such as garbage, oil and sulfur gas released by the maritime machines are
toxic to the maritime environment. They possess a great threat to maritime life. Sulfur oxides
gases for instance are acidic threatening maritime lives. Oil spillage can lead to suffocation of
maritime lives. In response to the various negative impacts of maritime industry’s activities,
various laws have been since implemented by various international bodies. This has led to
implementation of various international conventions to protect the environment from further
pollution These conventions were first drafted at the international maritime organization {IMO}
in 1973. This was a response to the 1976-1977 tanker accident, winter of ships accident which
was estimated to have released about 100000 tons of Arabian Light crude oil with about 25-
30,000 washed ashore (Gundlach & Hayes, 1977, p.107). However, the 1973 draft didn’t come
to force. It was subjected to a series of amendments. as at then due to series of amendments that
the draft was still undergoing through. The international conventions came into force in 1983.
The conventions are still undergoing amendments to accommodate new annex as seen in (Lirn et
al, 2019, p.22). The research paper limits itself to how the various pollutants from the maritime
industry impacted on the environment and how international conventions managed to protect the
environment.
International air pollution prevention
This convention was drafted to protect the environment from toxic gases such as Sulphur dioxide
and nitrogen compounds released from maritime devices such as ships. It ensures the 0.5%
Sulphur emission limit is not exceeded to reduce the air pollution caused by the release of excess
Sulphur. A number of guidance were published by the (IMO) in 2008 to ensure that 0.5%
Sulphur limit is not exceeded (Rony, Kitada, Dalaklis, Ölçer, & Ballini, 2019). They include,
minimization on the activities that the ships need to carry out, switch over timing, modification
of the fuel system to ensure that the fuel tanks only hold the required amount of fuel for a
particular task (Van Hees, 2019, p.30). Other guidance includes, change risks assessment,
cleaning of the fuel tanks, creating awareness among the crew on the guidance published as well
as adopting the cold flow storage mechanisms.