[Title] The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil, 1954
The Governments represented at the International Conference on Pollution of the Sea by Oil held in London from 26th April, 1954, to 12th, May, 1954,
Desiring to take action by common agreement to prevent pollution of the sea by oil discharged front ships, and considering that this end may best be achieved by the conclusion of a Convention,
Have accordingly appointed the undersigned plenipotentiaries, who, having communicated their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows:
Article 1
(1) For the purposes of the present Convention, the following expressions shall (unless the context otherwise requires) have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say:
'The Bureau' has the meaning assigned to it by Article XXI;
'Discharge' in relation to oil or to oily mixture means any discharge or escape howsoever caused;
'Heavy diesel oil' means marine diesel oil, other than those distillates of which more than 60 per cent by volume distils at a temperature not exceeding 340°C. when tested by A.S.T.M. Standard Method D.86/59;
'Mile' means a nautical mile of 6,080 feet or 1,852 metres{sic};
'Oil' means crude oil, fuel oil, heavy diesel oil and lubricating oil, and 'oily' shall be construed accordingly;
'Oily mixture' means a mixture with an oil content of 100 parts or more in 1,000,000 parts of the mixture;
'Organization' means the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization;
'Ship' means any seagoing vessel or any type whatsoever, including floating craft, whether self-propelled or towed by another vessel, making a sea voyage; and 'tanker' means a ship in which the greater part of the cargo space is constructed or adapted for the carriage of liquid cargoes in bulk and which is not, for the time being, carrying a cargo other than oil in that part of its cargo space.
(2) For the purposes of the present Convention, the territories of a Contracting Government mean the territory of the country of which it is the Government and any other territory for the international relations of which it is responsible and to which the Convention shall have been extended under Article XVIII.
Article II
(1) The present Convention shall apply to ships registered in any of the territories of a Contracting Government and to unregistered ships having the nationality of a Contracting Party, except:
(a) tankers of under 150 tons gross tonnage and other ships of under 500 tons gross tonnage, provided that each Contracting Government take the necessary steps, no far as is reasonable and practicable, to apply the requirements of the Convention to such ships also, having regard to their size, service and the type of fuel used for their propulsion;
(b) ships for the time being engaged in the whaling industry when actually employed on whaling operations;
(C) ships for the time being navigating the Great Lakes of North America and their connecting and tributary waters as far east as the lower exit of St. Lambert Lock at Montreal in the Province of Quebec, Canada;
(d) naval ships and ships for the time being used as naval auxiliaries.
(2) Each Contracting Government undertakes to adopt appropriate measures ensuring that requirements equivalent to those of the present Convention are, so far as is reasonable and practicable, applied to the ships referred to in sub-paragraph (d) of paragraph (1) of this Article.
Article III
Subject to the provisions of Articles IV and V:
(a) the discharge from a tanker to which the present Convention applies, within any of the prohibited zones referred to in Annex A to the Convention, of oil or oily mixture shall be prohibited;
(b) the discharge front a ship to which the present Convention applies, other than a tanker, of cal or oily mixture shall be made as far as practicable from land. As from a date three years after that on which the Convention cornea into force for the relevant territory in respect of the ship in accordance with paragraph(1) of Article II, sub-paragraph (a) of this Article shall apply to a ship other than a tanker, except that the discharge of oil or of oily mixture from such a ship shall not be prohibited when the ship is proceeding to a port not provided with such facilities for ships other than tankers at are referred to in Article VIII;
(c) the discharge from a ship of 20,000 tons gram tonnage or more, to which the present Convention applies and for which the building contract is placed on or after the date on which this provision comes into force, of oil or oily mixture shall be prohibited. However, if, in the opinion of the muter, special circumstances make it neither reasonable nor practicable to retain the oil or oily mixture on board, it may be discharged outside the prohibited toots referred to in Annex A to the Convention. The reasons for such discharge shall be reported to the Contracting Government of the relevant territory in respect of the ship in accordance with paragraph (1) of Article II. Full details of such dischargesshall be reported to the Orgasization atleast everytwelve months by Contracting Governments.
Article IV
Article Ill shall not apply to:
(a) the discharge of oil or of oily mixture from ship for the purpose of securing the safety of a ship, preventing damage to a ship or cargo, or saving life at sea;
(b) the escape of oil or of oily mixture resulting from damage to a ship or unavoidable leakage, if all reasonable precautions have been taken after the occurrence of the damage or discovery of the leakage for the purpose of preventing or minimizing the escape;
(c) the discharge of residue arising from the purification or clarification of fuel oil or lubricating oil, provided that such discharge is made as far from land as is practicable.
Article V
Article III shall not apply to the discharge from the bilges of a ship:
(a) during the period of twelve months following the date on which the present Convention comes into force for the relevant territory in respect of the ship in accordance with paragraph (1) of Article II, of oily mixture;
(b) after the expiration of such period, of oily mixture containing no oil other than lubricating oil which has drained or leaked from machinery spaces.
Article VI
(1) Any contravention of Articles III and IX shall be an offence punishable under the law of the relevant territory in respect of the ship in accordance with paragraph (1) of Article II.
(2) The penalties which may be imposed under the law of any of the territories of a Contracting Government in respect of the unlawful discharge from a ship of oil or oily mixture outside the territorial see of that territory shall be adequate in severity to discourage any such unlawful discharge and shall not be less than the penalties which may be imposed under the law of that territory in respect of the same infringements within the territorial sea.
(3) Each Contracting Government shall report to the Organization the penalties actually imposed for each infringement.
Article VII
(1) As from a date twelve months after the present Convention comes into force for the relevant territory in respect of a ship in accordance with paragraph (1) of Article II, such a ship shall be required to be so fitted u to prevent, so far as reasonable and practicable, the escape of fuel oil or heavy diesel oil into bilges, unless effective means are provided to ensure that the oil in the bilges is not discharged in contravention of this Convention.
(2) Carrying water ballast in oil fuel tanks shall be avoided if possible.
Article VIII
(1) Each Contracting Government shall take all appropriate steps to promote the provision of facilities as follows:
(a) according to the needs of ships using them, ports shall be provided with facilities adequate for the reception, without causing undue delay to ships, of such residues and oily mixtures as would remain for disposal from ships other than tankers if the bulk of the water had been separated from the mixture;
(b) oil loading terminals shall be provided with facilities adequate for the reception of such residues and oily mixtures as would similarly remain for disposal by tankers;
(c) ship repair ports shall be provided with facilities adequate for the reception of such residues and oily mixtures as would similarly remain for disposal by all ships entering for repairs.
(2) Each Contracting Government shall determine which are the ports and oil loading terminals in its territories suitable for the purposes of sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of paragraph (1) of this Article.
(3) As regards paragraph (1) of this Article, each Contracting Government shall report to the Organization, for transmission to the Contracting Government concerned, all cases where the facilities are alleged to be inadequate.
Article IX
(1) Of the ships to which the present Convention applies, every ship which uses oil fuel and every tanker shall be provided with an oil record book, whether as part of the ship's official log book or otherwise, in the form specified in Annex B to the Convention.
(2) The oil record book shall be completed on each occasion, whenever any of the following operations takes place in the ship:
(a) ballasting of and discharge of ballast from cargo tanks of tankers;
(b) cleaning of cargo tanks of tankers;
(e) settling in slop tanks and discharge of water from tankers;
(d) disposal from tankers of oily residues from slop tasks or other sources;
(e) ballasting, or cleaning during voyage, of bunker Aid tanks of ships other than tankers;
(f) disposal from ships other than tankers of oily residues front bunker fuel tanks or other sources;
(g) accidental or other exceptional discharges or escapes of oil from tankers or ships other than tankers.
In the event of such discharge or escape of oil or oily mixture as is referred to in sub-paragraph (c) of Article III or in Article IV, a statement shall be made in the oil record book of the circumstances of, and reason for, the discharge or escape.
(3) Each operation described in paragraph (2) of this Article shall be fully recorded without delay in the oil record book so that all the entries in the book appropriate to that operation are completed. Each page of the book shall be signed by the officer or officers in charge of the operations concerned and, when the ship is manned, by the master of the ship. The written entries in the oil record book shall be in an official language of the relevant territory in respect of the ship in accordance with paragraph (1) of Article II, or in English or French.
(4) Oil record books shall be kept in such a place as to be readily available for inspection at all reasonable times, and, except in the case of unmanned ships under tow, shall be kept on board the ship. They shall be preserved for a period of two years after the last entry has been made.
(5) The competent authorities of any of the territories of a Contracting Government may inspect on board any ship to which the present Convention applies, while within a port in that territory, the oil record book required to be carried in the ship in compliance with the provisions of this Article, and may make a true copy of any entry in that book and may require the master of the ship to certify that the copy is a true copy of such entry. Any copy so made which purports to have been certified by the master of the ship as a true copy of an entry in the ship's oil record book shall be made admissible in any judicial proceedings as evidence of the facts stated in the entry. Any action by the competent authorities under this paragraph shall be taken as expeditiously as possible and the ship shall not be delayed.
Article X
(1) Any Contracting Government may furnish to the Government of the relevant territory in respect of the ship in accordance with paragraph (1) of Article II particulars in writing of evidence that any provision of the present Convention has been contravened in respect of that ship, wheresoever the alleged contravention may have taken place. If it is practicable to do so, the competent authorities of the former Government shall notify the master of the ship of the alleged contravention.
(2) Upon receiving such particulars, the Government so informed shall investigate the matter, and may request the other Government to furnish further or better particulars of the alleged contravention, if the Government so informed is satisfied that sufficient evidence is available in the form required by its law to enable proceedings against the owner or master of the ship to be taken in respect of the alleged contravention, it shall cause such proceedings to be taken as soon as possible, and shall inform the other Government and the Organization of the result of such proceedings.
Article XI
Nothing in the present Convention shall be construed as derogating from the powers of any Contracting Government to take measures within its jurisdiction in respect of any matter to which the Convention relates or as extending the jurisdiction of any Contracting Government.
ARTICLE XII
Each Contracting Government shall send to the Bureau and to the appropriate organ of the United Nations:
(a) the text of laws, decrees, orders and regulations in force in its, territories which give effect to the present Convention;
(b) all official reports or summaries of official reports in so far as they show the results of the application of the provisions of the Convention, provided always that such reports or summaries are not, in the opinion of that Government, of a confidential nature.
ARTICLE XIII
Any dispute between Contracting Governments relating to the interpretation or application of the present Convention which cannot be settled by negotiation shall be referred at the request of either party to the International Court of Justice for decision unless the parties in dispute agree to submit it to arbitration.
Article XIV
(1) The present Convention shall remain open for signature for three months from this day's date and shall thereafter remain open for acceptance.
(2) Subject to Article XV, the Governments of States Members of the United Nations or of any of the Specialized Agencies or parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice may become parties to the present Convention by:
(a) signature without reservation as to acceptance;
(b) signature subject to acceptance followed by acceptance; or
(c) acceptance.
(3) Acceptance shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of acceptance with the Bureau, which shall inform all Governments that have already signed or accepted the present Convention of each signature and deposit of an acceptance and of the date of such signature or deposit.
ARTICLE XV
(1) The present Convention shall come into force twelve months after the date on which not less than ten Governments have become parties to the Convention, including five Governments of countries each with not less than 500,000 gross tons of tanker tonnage.
(2) (a) For each Government which signs the Convention without reservation as to acceptance or accepts the Convention before the date on which the Convention comes into force in accordance with paragraph (1) of this Article it shall come into force on that date. For each Government which accepts the Convention on or after that date, it shall come into force three months after the date of the deposit of that Government's acceptance.
(b) The Bureau shall, as soon as possible, inform all Governments which have signed or accepted the Convention of the date on which it will costs into force.
ARTICLE XVI
(1) (a) The present Convention may be amended by unanimous agreement between the Contracting Governments.
(b) Upon request of any Contracting Government a proposed amendment shall be communicated by the Organization to all Contracting Governments for consideration and acceptance under this paragraph.
(2) (a) An amendment to the present Convention may be proposed to the Organization at any time by any Contracting Government, and such proposal if adopted by a two-thirds majority of the Assembly of the
hganization upon recommendation adopted by a two-thirds majority of the Maritime Safety Committee of the Organization shall be communicated by the Organization to all Contracting Governments for their acceptance.
(b) Any such recommendation by the Maritime Safety Committee shall be communicated by the Organization to all Contracting Governments for their consideration at least six months before it is considered by the Assembly.
(3) (a) A conference of Governments to consider amendments to the present Convention proposed by any Contracting Government shall at any time be convened by the Organization upon the request of one-third of the Contracting Governments.
(b) Every amendment adopted by such conference by a two-thirds majority of the Contracting Governments shall be communicated by the Organization to all Contracting Governments for their acceptance.
(4) Any amendment communicated to Contracting Governments for their acceptance under paragraph (2) or (3) of this Article shall come into force for all Governments, except those which before it comes into force make a declaration that they do not accept the amendment, twelve months after the date on which the amendment is accepted by two-thirds of the Contracting Governments.
(5) The Assembly, by a two-thirds majority vote, including two-thirds of the Governments represented on the Maritime Safety Committee, and subject to the concurrence of two-thirds of the Contracting Governments to tile present Convention, or a conference convened under paragraph (3) of this Article by a two-thirds majority vote, may determine at the time of its adoption that the amendment is of such an important nature that any Contracting Government which makes a declaration under paragraph (4) of this Article and which does not accept the amendment within a period of twelve months after the amendment comes into force, shall, upon the expiry of this period, cease to he a party to the present Convention.
(6) The Organization shall inform all Contracting Governments of any amendments which come into force under this Article, together with the date on which such amendments shall come into force.
(7) Any acceptance or declaration under this Article shall he made by a notification in writing to the Organization which shall notify all Contracting Governments of the receipt of the acceptance or declaration.
ARTICLE XVII
(1) The present Convention may be denounced by any Contracting Government at any time after the expiration of a period of five years from the date on which the Convention comes into force for that Government.
(2) Denunciation shall be effected by a notification in writing addressed to the Bureau, which shall notify all the Contracting Governments of any denunciation received and of the date of its receipt.
(3) A denunciation shall take effect twelve months, or such longer period as may be specified in the notification, after its receipt by the Bureau.
Article XVIII
(1) (a) The United Nations in cases where they are the administering authority for a territory or any Contracting Government responsible for the international relations of a territory shall as soon as possible consult with such territory in an endeavour to extend the present Convention to that territory and may at any time by notification in writing given to the Bureau declare that the Convention shall extend to such territory.
(b) The present Convention shall from the date of the receipt of the notification or from such other date as may be specified in the notification extend to the territory named therein.
(2) (a) The United Nations in cases where they are the administering authority for a territory or any Contracting Government which has made a declaration under paragraph (1) of this Article, at any time after the expiry of a period of five years from the date on which the present Convention has been so extended to any territory, may by a notification in writing given to the Bureau after consultation with such territory declare that the Convention shall cease to extend to any such territory named in the notification.
(b) The present Convention shall cease to extend to any territory mentioned in such notification one year, or such longer period as may be specified therein, after the date of receipt of the notification by the Bureau.
(3) The Bureau shall inform all the Contracting Governments of the extension of the present Convention to any territory under paragraph (1) of this Article, and of the termination of any such extension under the provisions of paragraph (2) stating in each case the date from which the Convention has been or will cease to be so extended.
ARTICLE XIX
(1) In case of war or other hostilities, a Contracting Government which considers that it is affected, whether as a belligerent or as a neutral, may suspend the operation of the whole or any part of the present Convention in respect of all or any of its territories. The suspending Government shall immediately give notice of any such suspension to the Bureau.
(2) The suspending Government may at any time terminate such suspension and shall in any event terminate it as soon as it ceases to be justified under paragraph (1) of this Article. Notice of such termination shall be given immediately to the Bureau by the Government concerned.
(3) The suspension Government may at any time terminate such suspension and shall in any event Bureau shall notify all Contracting Governments of any or termination of suspension under this Article.
ARTICLE XX
As soon as the present Convention comes into force it shall be registered by the Bureau with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
ARTICLE XXI
The duties of the Bureau shall be carried out by the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland unless and until the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation conies into being and takes over the duties assigned to it under the Convention signed at Geneva on the 6th day of March, 1948. and thereafter the duties of the Bureau shall be carried out by the said Organisation.
In witness whereof the undersigned plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention.
Done in London this twelfth day of May. 1954, in English and French, both texts being equally authoritative, in a single copy, which shall be deposited with the Bureau and of which the Bureau shall transmit certified copies to all signatory and Contracting Governments.
For the Government of Australia:
For the Government of Belgium:
Subject to acceptance,
M. A. VAN BOECKEL.
For the Government of Brazil:
For the Government of Canada:
ALAN CUMYN.
Subject to ratification.
For the Government of Ceylon:
T. D. PERERA.
Subject to acceptance,
For the Government of Chile:
For the Government of Denmark:
Subject to acceptance,
MOGENS BLACH.
For the Government of Finland:
Subject to acceptance,
S. SUNDMAN.
For the Government of France:
Sous reserve de ratification,
R. MASSIGLI.
For the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany:
Subject to acceptance,
KARL SCHUBERT.
For the Government of Greece:
Subject to acceptance,
M. SAKARIS.
KOSTAS LYRAS.
For the Government of India:
For the Government of Ireland:
F. H. BOLAND.
Subject to acceptance.
For the Government of Israel:
For the Government of Italy:
Subject to acceptance,
GIULIO INGIANNL.
For the Government of Japan:
Subject to acceptance.
S. MATSUMOTO.
For the Government of Liberia:
Subject to acceptance or ratification by the President with the advice and consent of the Liberian Senate,
GEORGE B. STEVENSON.
S. EDWARD PEAL.
For the Government of Mexico:
G. LUDERS DE NEGRl.
Subject to acceptance.
For the Government of the Netherlands:
A. H. HASSELMAN.
Subject to ratification.
For the Government of New Zealand:
Subject to acceptance,
P. H. CORNER.
For the Government of Nicaragua:
For the Government of Norway:
Subject to acceptance,
SIGURD STORHAUG.
For the Government of Panama:
For the Government of Poland:
For the Government of Portugal:
For the Government of Spain:
For the Government of Sweden:
Subject to acceptance,
G. BOOS.
For the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics:
Y. MALIK.
Subject to ratification by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.,
Y. M.
For the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:
Subject to acceptance,
GILMOUR JENKINS.
PERCY FAULKNER.
For the Government of the United States of America:
For the Government of Venezuela:
For the Government of Yugoslavia:
Subject to acceptance,
PREDRAG NIKOLIC.