EGC Record Book

The EGC Record Book is the operational record required of every ship using an exhaust gas cleaning system as an approved equivalent, at paragraph 4.4.9 of resolution MEPC.340(77) for Scheme A and 5.7.1 for Scheme B. It may be kept electronically. Entries are maintained on board for a minimum of three years after the last entry.

What goes in it is broader than maintenance. It records service including like-for-like replacement of components; storage and disposal of residues with date, time and location; monitoring system maintenance; the sample-system ingress leakage checks; the nitrate analysis certificate; and, under resolution MEPC.1/Circ.883, any malfunction with its start date and time, its resolution and the follow-up action taken.

Do not confuse the three-year Record Book retention with the eighteen-month retention that applies to the automatically recorded monitoring data under paragraph 7.4. They are different obligations on different media, and a port State control officer may ask for both.

The full article will cover the entry format, the electronic record book route, what an inspector reads first, and the interaction with the Oil Record Book where residues are landed.