DE 56/10/**
Annex 3
Annex 3
Statement from France
Beyond rule 13 F Annex 1 of MARPOL (73/78) requiring the double hull (DH), the Polar Code
could consist of additional requirements for higher environmental performance of alternative
vessel designs.1
The DH has proved a successful means to reduce the accidental pollutions’ number of
occurrence. It however has no effect on the environmental impact when an accident occurs2.
To optimize the double-hull efficiency and thus reduce the risk magnitude, new pollutioncontrol innovations have emerged. These new solutions act directly on the consequences of
accidents at sea and therefore, could help the regulator achieving progress in the field of
accidental pollutions in the Polar Regions.
Indeed due to the limited accessibility of the pollutants, their removal is a complex and timeconsuming process for the salvage companies. One means to reduce the ecological
consequences of accidents at sea is to improve the accessibility of the pollutants hold into
the bunker and cargo tanks, in order to accelerate their recovery before they leak into the
sea.
New technologies now help to ease access and recovery of the pollutants. This function can
be integrated as a design feature leading to adapt location of the tanks in a way that their
access is facilitated and the removal of the pollutants accelerated. It can also be fulfilled via
additional onboard equipment installed in the building of the ship.
This additional equipment consists in dedicated piping ended by sets of connectors
equipping each tanks or group of tanks.
These technological evolutions prove an optimization of the double-hull. Their synergies are
to be activated to reach the high-level environmental ambitions pursued by the Polar Code,
to protect this ecologically-sensitive region. IMO may strengthen such requirements as
regards to technical evolutions.
1
For the record, 1990 Oil Pollution Act / Sec 4115 extract: “in order to obtain a higher standard of
environmental protection while encouraging innovative ship design and equipment and taking into account
technical evolutions”
2
Cf. Paragraph 5 of the Polar Code Preamble.
Cf. formula used in the 2011 September 29-October 2 Risk Hazard identification Workshop in Cambridge : Risk
magnitude equals rate (or probability) of occurrence multiplied by the impact of the event.