International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil, 1954 Opened for signature at London May 12, 1954; Ratification advised by the Senate of the United States of America, subject to an understanding, reservations, and a recommendation, May 16, 1961; Ratified, and acceptance declared, by the President of the United States of America, subject to the said understanding, reservations, and recommendation, May 29, 1961; Acceptance deposited with the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization, subject to the said understanding, reservations, and recommendation, September 8, 1961; Proclaimed by the President of the United States of America December 8, 1961; Entered into force for the United States of America December 8, 1961. BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION WHEREAS The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil, 1954, was opened for signature at London on May 12, 1954, remained open for signature for three months during which period it was signed in behalf of twenty States, not including the United States of America, and thereafter remained open for acceptance; WHEREAS the text of the said Convention in the English and French languages, as certified by the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is word for word as follows: 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 from 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 I (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 an oily mixture means any discharge or escape howsoever caused; "Heavy diesel oil" means marine diesel oil, other than those distillates of which more than 50 per cent, by volume distils at a temperature not exceeding 340° C. when tested by A.S.T.M. Standard Method D.158/53; "Mile" means a nautical mile of 6080 feet or 1852 metres; "Oil" means crude oil, fuel oil, heavy diesel oil and lubricating oil, and "oily" shall be construed accordingly. (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 the Government is responsible and to which the Convention shall have been extended under Article XVIII. ARTICLE II The present Convention shall apply to sea-going ships registered in any of the territories of a Contracting Government, except (i) ships for the time being used as naval auxiliaries; (iii) ships for the time being engaged in the whaling industry; (iv) 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 the Lachine Canal at Montreal in the Province of Quebec, Canada. ARTICLE III (1) Subject to the provisions of Articles IV and V, the discharge from any tanker, being a ship to which the Convention applies, within any of the prohibited zones referred to in Annex A to the Convention in relation to tankers of (a) oil; 8 (b) any oily mixture the oil in which fouls the surface of the sea, shall be prohibited. For the purposes of this paragraph the oil in an oily mixture of less than 100 parts of oil in 1,000,000 parts of the mixture shall not be deemed to foul the surface of the sea. (2) Subject to the provisions of Articles IV and V, any discharge into the sea from a ship, being a ship to which the Convention applies and not being a tanker, of oily ballast water or tank washings shall be made as far as practicable from land. As from a date three years after the date on which the Convention comes into force, paragraph (1) of this Article shall apply to ships other than tankers as it applies to tankers, except that: (a) the prohibited zones in relation to ships other than tankers shall be those referred to as such in Annex A to the Convention; and (b) the discharge of oil or of an oily mixture from such a ship shall not be prohibited when the ship is proceeding to a port not provided with such reception facilities as are referred to in Article VIII. (3) Any contravention of paragraphs (1) and (2) of this Article shall be an offence punishable under the laws of the territory in which the ship is registered. ARTICLE IV (1) Article III shall not apply to: (a) the discharging of oil or of an oily mixture from a ship for the purpose of securing the safety of the ship, preventing damage to the ship or cargo, or saving life at sea; or (b) the escape of oil, or of an oily mixture, resulting from damage to the 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 minimising the escape; (c) the discharge of sediment: (i) which cannot be pumped from the cargo tanks of tankers by reason of its solidity; or (ii) which is residue arising from the purification or clarification of oil fuel or lubricating oil, provided that such discharge is made as far from land as is practicable. (2) In the event of such discharge or escape as is referred to in this Article a statement shall be made in the oil record book required by Article IX of the circumstances of and reason for the discharge. ARTICLE V Article III shall not apply to the discharge from the bilges of a ship: (a) of any oily mixture during the period of twelve months following the date on which the Convention comes into force in respect of the territory in which the ship is registered; (b) after the expiration of such period, of an oily mixture containing no oil other than lubricating oil. ARTICLE VI The penalties which may be imposed in pursuance of Article III under the law of any of the territories of a Contracting Government in respect of the unlawful discharge from a ship of oil or of an oily mixture into waters outside the territorial waters of that territory shall not be less than the penalties which may be imposed under the law of that territory in respect of the unlawful discharge of oil or of any oily mixture from a ship into such territorial waters. ARTICLE VII As from a date twelve months after the present Convention comes into force in respect of any of the territories of a Contracting Government all ships registered in that territory shall be required to be so fitted as to prevent the escape of fuel oil or heavy diesel oil into bilges the contents of which are discharged into the sea without being passed through an oily-water separator. ARTICLE VIII As from a date three years after the present Convention comes into force in respect of any of the territories of a Contracting Government, that Government shall ensure the provision in each main port in that territory of facilities adequate for the reception, without causing undue delay to ships, of such residues from oily ballast water and tank washings as would remain for disposal by ships, other than tankers, using the port, if the water had been separated by the use of an oily-water separator, a settling tank or otherwise. Each Contracting Government shall from time to time determine which ports are the main ports in its territories for the purposes of this Article, and shall notify the Bureau in writing accordingly indicating whether adequate reception facilities have been installed. ARTICLE IX (1) There shall be carried in every ship to which the Convention applies an oil record book (whether as part of the ship's official logbook or otherwise) in the form specified in Annex B to the present Convention. The appropriate entries shall be made in that book, and each page of the book, including any statement under paragraph (2) of Article IV, shall be signed by the officer or officers in charge of the operations concerned and by the master of the ship. The written entries in the oil record book shall be in an official language of the territory in which the ship is registered, or in English or French. (2) The competent authorities of any of the territories of a Contracting Government may inspect on board any such ship while within a port in that territory the oil record book required to be carried in the ship in compliance with the provisions of the Convention, 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 Contracting Government in the territory of which a ship is registered particulars in writing of evidence that any provision of the 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 latter Government shall investigate the matter, and may request the former Government to furnish further or better particulars of the alleged contravention. If the Government in the territory of which the ship is registered is satisfied that sufficient evidence is available in the form required by 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 Contracting Government and the Bureau 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 Gov ernment. 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) Governments may become parties to the Convention by(i) signature without reservation as to acceptance; (ii) signature subject to acceptance followed by acceptance; or (iii) 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 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. 90-224 O-73-24 |