MARPOL Annex IV Regulation 3: Exceptions

MARPOL Annex IV Regulation 3 sets the only two exceptions to the sewage discharge conditions in Regulation 11: a discharge necessary to secure the safety of the ship and those on board or to save life at sea, and a discharge resulting from damage to the ship or its equipment where all reasonable precautions were taken before and after the damage. Since MEPC.265(68), in force 1 January 2017, the same exceptions also disapply the sewage section of the Polar Code .

The full article will cover how flag States expect a Regulation 3 discharge to be recorded and reported, why domestic voyages and small ships fall outside MARPOL Annex IV through Regulation 2 rather than Regulation 3, and how the wording compares with the exception regulations of the other MARPOL annexes.