| (1) | Subject to the provisions of Regulations 10 and 11 of this Annex and paragraph (2) of this Regulation, any discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixtures from ships to which this Annex applies shall be prohibited except when all the following conditions are satisfied: |
| (a) | for an oil tanker, except as provided for in subparagraph (b) of this paragraph: |
| (i) | the tanker is not within a special area; |
| (ii) | the tanker is more than 50 nautical miles from the nearest land; |
| (iii) | the tanker is proceeding en route; |
| (iv) | the instantaneous rate of discharge of oil content does not exceed 30 litres per nautical mile; |
| (v) | the total quantity of oil discharged into the sea does not exceed for existing tankers 1/15 000 of the total quantity of the particular cargo of which the residue formed a part, and for new tankers 1/30 000 of the total quantity of the particular cargo of which the residue formed a part; and |
| (vi) | the tanker has in operation an oil discharge monitoring and control system and a slop tank arrangement as required by Regulation 15 of this Annex; |
| (b) | from a ship of 400 tons gross tonnage and above other than an oil tanker and from machinery space bilges excluding cargo pump-room bilges of an oil tanker unless mixed with oil cargo residue: |
| (i) | the ship is not within a special area; |
| (ii) | the ship is proceeding en route; |
| (iii) | the oil content of the effluent without dilution does not exceed 15 parts per million; and |
| (iv) | the ship has in operation equipment as required by Regulation 16 of this Annex. |
| (2) | In the case of a ship of less than 400 tons gross tonnage other than an oil tanker whilst outside the special area, the Administration shall ensure that it is equipped as far as practicable and reasonable with installations to ensure the storage of oil residues on board and their discharge to reception facilities or into the sea in compliance with the requirements of paragraph (1)(b) of this Regulation. |
| (3) | Whenever visible traces of oil are observed on or below the surface of the water in the immediate vicinity of a ship or its wake, Governments of Parties to the Convention should, to the extent they are reasonably able to do so, promptly investigate the facts bearing on the issue of whether there has been a violation of the provisions of this Regulation or Regulation 10 of this Annex. The investigation should include, in particular, the wind and sea conditions, the track and speed of the ship, other possible sources of the visible traces in the vicinity, and any relevant oil discharge records. |
| (4) | The provisions of paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall not apply to the discharge of clean or segregated ballast or unprocessed oily mixtures which without dilution have an oil content not exceeding 15 parts per million and which do not originate from cargo pump- room bilges and are not mixed with oil cargo residues. |
| (5) | No discharge into the sea shall contain chemicals or other substances in quantities or concentrations which are hazardous to the marine environment or chemicals or other substances introduced for the purpose of circumventing the conditions of discharge specified in this Regulation. |
| (6) | The oil residues which cannot be discharged into the sea in compliance with paragraphs (1), (2) and (4) of this Regulation shall be retained on board or discharged to reception facilities. |
| (7) | In the case of a ship, referred to in Regulation 16(6) of this Annex, not fitted with equipment required by Regulation 16(1) or (2) of this Annex, the provisions of paragraph (1)(b) of this Regulation will not apply until 6 July 1998 or the date on which the ship is fitted with such equipment, whichever is the earlier. Until this date any discharge from machinery space bilges into the sea of oil or oily mixtures from such ship shall be prohibited except when all the following conditions are satisfied: |
| (a) | the oily mixture does not originate from the cargo pump-room bilges; |
| (b) | the oily mixture is not mixed with oil cargo residues; |
| (c) | the ship is not within a special area; |
| (d) | the ship is more than 12 nautical miles from the nearest land; |
| (e) | the ship is proceeding en route; |
| (f) | the oil content of the effluent is less than 100 parts per million; and |
| (g) | the ship has in operation oily-water separating equipment of a design approved by the Administration, taking into account the specification recommended by the Organization1. |
1 Reference is made to the Recommendation on International Performance and Test Specifications for Oily Water Separating Equipment and Oil Content Meters adopted by the Organization by Resolution A.393 (X).
