Food Waste

[jwinsor]

Ok everyone here is a chance to show up the mates on board my vessel.
We are a Canadian Flagged vessel working in the North Sea. The powers that be say that no food waste can be disposed of overboard. Our garbage skiff is more than ripe. I have read the Canada Shipping Act and Marpol Annex 5 and the in house regulations. It seems that food waste can be disposed of overboard as long and they go through a garburator and can pass through a 25mm screen and we are 12 miles offshore and not in a sensitive area.

Am I reading this right??

Any insight into food waste would be welcome.

Jack

[JollyJack]

The Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, enacted by the Canada Shipping Act 2001 applies to all Canadian ships everywhere. Division 5 deals with garbage and the relevant sections are:

140. Subject to sections 9 and 141, ships in Section II waters and Canadian ships in waters seaward of the outermost limits of Section II waters are authorized to discharge garbage if

(a) in the case of dunnage, lining material or packing material that does not contain plastics and is capable of floating, the discharge is made as far as practicable from the nearest land but under no circumstances shall the distance of the ship from the nearest land be less than 25 nautical miles at the time of discharge;

(b) subject to paragraph (c), in the case of garbage other than plastics and garbage that is referred to in paragraph (a) the discharge is made as far as practicable from the nearest land but under no circumstances shall the distance of the ship from the nearest land be less than 12 nautical miles at the time of discharge; and

(c) in the case of garbage that is referred to in paragraph (b) that has been passed through a comminuter or grinder such that the comminuted or ground garbage is capable of passing through a screen with openings no greater than 25 mm, the discharge is made as far as practicable from the nearest land but under no circumstances shall the distance of the ship from the nearest land be less than 3 nautical miles at the time of discharge.

141. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the discharge of garbage is prohibited from a ship that is alongside or within 500 m of a fixed or floating platform located more than 12 nautical miles from the nearest land and engaged in the exploration, exploitation and associated offshore processing of seabed mineral resources.

(2) A ship that is alongside or within 500 m of a fixed or floating platform located more than 12 nautical miles from the nearest land and engages in the exploration, exploitation and associated offshore processing of seabed mineral resources is authorized to discharge food wastes only if the food wastes have been passed through a comminuter or grinder such that the comminuted or ground food wastes are capable of passing through a screen with openings no greater than 25 mm.

Better look at MCA Regulations for the North Sea.

[JollyJack]

Incidentally, the Regs can be accessed here:

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regu ... ge-43.html