1 Every ship to which this Annex applies shall be provided
with a Cargo Record Book, whether as a part of the ship's official logbook, as an
electronic record book which shall be approved by the Administration taking into account
Guidelines developed by the Organizationfootnote, or otherwise, in the form specified in appendix II to
this Annex.
2 After completion
of any operation specified in appendix
2 to this Annex, the operation shall be promptly recorded in
the Cargo Record Book.
3 In the event of
an accidental discharge of a noxious liquid substance or a mixture
containing such a substance or a discharge under the provisions of regulation 3 of this Annex, an entry
shall be made in the Cargo Record Book stating the circumstances of,
and the reason for, the discharge.
4 Each entry shall be signed by the officer or officers in
charge of the operation concerned and each page or group of electronic entries shall be
signed by the master of the ship. The entries in the Cargo Record Book, for ships
holding an International Pollution Prevention Certificate for the Carriage of Noxious
Liquid Substances in Bulk or a certificate referred to in regulation 7 of
this Annex shall be at least in English, French or Spanish. Where entries in an official
national language of the State whose flag the ship is entitled to fly are also used,
this shall prevail in case of a dispute or discrepancy.
5 The Cargo Record
Book shall be kept in such a place as to be readily available for
inspection and, except in the case of unmanned ships under tow, shall
be kept on board the ship. It shall be retained for a period of three
years after the last entry has been made.
6 The competent authority
of the Government of a Party may inspect the Cargo Record Book on
board any ship to which this Annex applies while the ship is in its
port, and may make a copy of any entry in that book and may require
the master of the ship to certify that the copy is a true copy of
such entry. Any copy so made which has been certified by the master
of the ship as a true copy of an entry in the ship’s Cargo Record
Book shall be made admissible in any judicial proceedings as evidence
of the facts stated in the entry. The inspection of a Cargo Record
Book and the taking of a certified copy by the competent authority
under this paragraph shall be performed as expeditiously as possible
without causing the ship to be unduly delayed.