RECALLING Article 38 of the Convention on the International
Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Committee,
NOTING resolution MEPC.154(55) by
which the Committee adopted amendments to regulation 1.11 of Annex I of the
International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships,
1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL
73/78), to designate the Southern South African waters as a Special
Area,
NOTING ALSO the definition of the Special Area under MARPOL Annex I, i.e. a sea area where for
recognized technical reasons in relation to its oceanographical and
ecological condition and to the particular character of its traffic
the adoption of special mandatory methods for the prevention of pollution
of the sea by oil is required,
NOTING FURTHER the information provided in document MEPC
54/8, submitted by South Africa as the sole State bordering the Southern
South African Waters Special Area, that adequate reception facilities
are provided in all major ports within the said Special Area, in accordance
with the provisions of regulation
38.4 of MARPOL Annex I,
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that the Committee, at its fifty-fifth
session, had agreed to issue MEPC.1/Circ.543 on
the Early and effective implementation of the Southern South African
waters as a Special Area, pending its entry into force, whereby it
requested Member Governments and industry groups to comply with the
Special Area requirements immediately on a voluntary basis and, in
particular, to urge oil tankers to refrain from washing their cargo
tanks in the Southern South African waters, pending the entry into
force of the Special Area requirements,
HAVING CONSIDERED the matter to establish the date, on which
the discharge requirements of regulation
1.11 of MARPOL Annex I in respect of the Southern South African
waters Special Area shall take effect,
1 DECIDES that the discharge requirements for
Special Areas in regulations 15 and 34 of MARPOL Annex I for the Southern
South African Waters Special Area shall take effect on 1 August 2008,
with the proviso that the aforesaid amendments to regulation 1.11 of MARPOL Annex
I enter into force on 1 March 2008;
2 REMINDS Member Governments and industry groups
of the MEPC.1/Circ.543 which requested
them to comply on a voluntary basis with the requirements immediately
for the Southern South African Waters Special Area;
3 REQUESTS the Secretary-General to notify all
Parties to MARPOL 73/78 of the aforementioned
decision by 31 July 2007; and
4 FURTHER REQUESTS the Secretary-General to notify
all Members of the Organization of the aforementioned decision.