The International Maritime Organization introduced the Polar Code to improve safety and environmental protection standards for ships operating in Arctic and Antarctic waters. However, the WWF identified some gaps in the Code's regulations, including a lack of requirements around oil spill preparedness and response. Additionally, while sewage treatment is addressed, there are no rules governing grey water discharge or untreated sewage discharge within 12 nautical miles of ice shelves. Overall the Code is important but could be strengthened by addressing these and other issues to better protect the fragile polar environments.
The International Maritime Organization introduced the Polar Code to improve safety and environmental protection standards for ships operating in Arctic and Antarctic waters. However, the WWF identified some gaps in the Code's regulations, including a lack of requirements around oil spill preparedness and response. Additionally, while sewage treatment is addressed, there are no rules governing grey water discharge or untreated sewage discharge within 12 nautical miles of ice shelves. Overall the Code is important but could be strengthened by addressing these and other issues to better protect the fragile polar environments.
The International Maritime Organization introduced the Polar Code to improve safety and environmental protection standards for ships operating in Arctic and Antarctic waters. However, the WWF identified some gaps in the Code's regulations, including a lack of requirements around oil spill preparedness and response. Additionally, while sewage treatment is addressed, there are no rules governing grey water discharge or untreated sewage discharge within 12 nautical miles of ice shelves. Overall the Code is important but could be strengthened by addressing these and other issues to better protect the fragile polar environments.
The International Maritime Organization introduced the Polar Code to improve safety and environmental protection standards for ships operating in Arctic and Antarctic waters. However, the WWF identified some gaps in the Code's regulations, including a lack of requirements around oil spill preparedness and response. Additionally, while sewage treatment is addressed, there are no rules governing grey water discharge or untreated sewage discharge within 12 nautical miles of ice shelves. Overall the Code is important but could be strengthened by addressing these and other issues to better protect the fragile polar environments.
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IMO and the Polar Code
Figure 1. Limitations of the Polar Code, as stated by the WWF (WWF Arctic Programme, 2022).
Mauro Plak S4472918 m.m.plak@student.rug.nl Word count: 1000
Introduction: The IMO
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is responsible for measures to improve the safety and security of international shipping and prevent – or at least greatly reduce – marine pollution from ships. The IMO sets standards for this safety and security of international shipping. It oversees every aspect of worldwide shipping regulations, including legal issues, shipbuilding, and cargo size (Ancheta 2022). The IMO’s governing body, the Assembly, meets every two years, with the first meeting in 1959. The IMO is not responsible for enforcing its policies. However, when a government accepts a policy produced by the IMO, that policy becomes a national law that is the government's responsibility to enforce. Funding for the IMO comes from contributions by member states, as well as voluntary donations and commercial activities (loc. cit.). 175 states are members of the IMO, accounting for most of the membership of the United Nations. In addition, there are three associate members that are not considered states: Hong Kong, Macao and the Faroe Islands. In addition, the IMO regularly interacts with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and intergovernmental organizations on maritime policy (loc. cit). This paper will look into the Polar Code introduced by the IMO and the gaps in the requirements and regulations as researched and stated by the WWF. The Polar Code The International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters, or Polar Code, entered into force on 1 January 2017. It’s mandatory under both the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). The Polar Code covers the full range of design, construction, equipment, operational, training, search and rescue and environmental protection matters relevant to all ships operating in the waters surrounding both the Arctic and Antarctic. The Polar Code entered into force on 1 January 2017 (International Maritime Organization, n.d.a). The Polar Code introduced a lot of new regulations and rules. For example, the Code will require ships intending to operate in the waters of the Antarctic and Arctic to apply for a Polar Ship Certificate, which would classify the vessels to a certain category. There are Category A ships - ships designed for operation in polar waters at least in medium first-year ice, which may include old ice inclusions; Category B ships - a ship not included in category A, designed for operation in polar waters in at least thin first-year ice, which may include old ice inclusions; or Category C ships - a ship designed to operate in open water or in ice conditions less severe than those included in Categories A and B (loc. cit.). This classification system is meant to ensure the survival of the ship and crew, thus not risking environmental pollution from ship wreckage.
Figure 2. Infographic showcasing how the Polar Code ensures environmental protection (International Maritime Organization, n.d.b). As stated above, the Polar Code also ensures environmental protection. It does this in a variety of ways, ranging from sewage disposal regulations to minimizing the introduction of invasive aquatic species (International Maritime Organization, n.d.b). For example, sewage discharge is permitted if the ship has an approved sewage treatment plant and discharges treated sewage as far as practicable from the nearest land, any fast ice, ice shelf or areas of specified ice concentration (loc. cit.). Sewage not comminuted or disinfected can be discharged at a distance of more than 12nm (nautical miles) from any ice shelf or fast ice (loc. cit.). It also has strict regulations on the use and transportation of oils. Discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixtures from any ship is prohibited. Under MARPOL, heavy oils were already banned in the Antarctic. The Polar Code encourages not to use or carry heavy fuel oil in the Arctic – with a full ban adopted since 2021 (Prior 2022, 6) – and a double hull and double bottom are required for all oil tankers (International Maritime Organization, n.d.b).
Discussion and conclusion: Gaps in the Code
Even though a lot of measurements have been taken to ensure the prevention or lessening of environmental damage related to Polar shipping, there are still some gaps in the Code. These gaps were perceived as a result of a study done by Dr. Sian Prior, which was commissioned by the WWF and published in March 2022. One of the biggest issues is that the Polar Code doesn’t say or state anything about spill preparedness and response (Prior 2022, 16). The Arctic ban on the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil as fuel was adopted in 2021, but it won’t be fully effective till 2029 (op. cit., 17). This means that a major environmental and ecological disaster could happen if a shipwreck would happen in the time before 2029. There are of course cooperations – like Shell – who have rules and scenario trainings of their own when a spill happens (Loonen 2022), but this isn’t mandatory under the Code (Prior 2022, 16). Although the Code talks extensively about sewage treatment and discharge, it doesn’t say anything about grey water (Prior 2022, 16). This is the water collected from showers, wash basins and laundries and as a result do contain some pollutants (Marine Environment Protection Committee, n.d). Since there are no regulations on this matter, it can be discharged freely into Polar waters without any consequences (Prior 2022, 16). This can cause for example microplastics to get into the oceans (Marine Environment Protection Committee, n.d), but also all sorts of bacteria and dissolved solids. A related problem is untreated sewage. As stated earlier, sewage not comminuted or disinfected can be discharged at a distance of more than 12nm from any ice shelf or fast ice (International Maritime Organization, n.d.b). This will result in raw, untreated sewage being discharged directly into the feeding grounds of marine wildlife (Prior 2022, 16). This can of course spread disease and other pollutants into their habitat and they can accumulate in their bodies. To conclude, it is widely recognized that the Polar Code is important for the environmental protection in the Polar areas in multiple ways. However, there are still some shortcomings in this tightly interwoven code. Reports and studies like those from the WWF can help organizations such as the IMO to further improve their regulations in respect to the Arctic and Antarctic, thus protecting these unique environments better and more sufficient while still allowing (necessary) human activity to go on.
Bibliography - Ancheta, A., 2022. International Maritime Organization (IMO): Definition and purpose. Investopedia. - International Maritime Organization, n.d.a. International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code). International Maritime Organization. - International Maritime Organization, n.d.b. How the Polar Code protects the Environment. International Maritime Organization. - Marine Environment Protection Committee, n.d. Report of the Marine Environment Protection Committee on its seventy-second Session. International Maritime Organization. - Loonen, 2022. Arctic Oil and Gas. Unpublished presentation. - Prior, S., 2022. Review of Perceived Gaps and Challenges in the Implementation of the Polar Code. WWF Arctic Programme.
