Garbage: MARPOL Annex V and special areas
1The lesson in plain words
Under MARPOL Annex V almost nothing may go overboard. Plastics never, food waste only far from land, and the Mediterranean is a special area.
The basic rule
MARPOL Annex V starts from a ban: discharging garbage into the sea is prohibited unless the annex expressly allows it. It applies to every ship, a dinghy as much as a tanker. Plastics are never allowed overboard anywhere: bags, bottles, ropes, fishing line and cigarette ends. Paper, rags, glass, metal, cans and crockery are banned too. Bring it all back ashore.
Food waste outside special areas
Food waste is the main exception. Outside special areas, food ground small enough to pass a 25 mm screen may go overboard more than 3 nautical miles from the nearest land, while en route (making progress on your voyage). Food that is not ground needs more than 12 nautical miles, also en route. Most yachts have no grinder, so the 12-mile figure applies to you. Discharge as far from land as practicable, not simply just beyond the minimum.
Special areas
In a special area the rules are stricter: only ground food waste, more than 12 nautical miles from the nearest land, en route and as far from land as practicable. Unground food waste may not go overboard at all. These stricter rules are in force in the Mediterranean, Baltic and North Sea areas, among others.
Paperwork thresholds
Every ship of 12 m length overall or more must display placards showing the discharge rules. Ships of 100 GT or more, or certified for 15 or more people, need a written garbage management plan. Since 1 May 2024, ships of 100 GT or more also keep a garbage record book, as do ships certified for 15 or more people sailing to ports or offshore terminals of another country bound by MARPOL.
Good habits
Plan your garbage before you sail. Leave packaging ashore, carry reusable containers, and keep separate bags for plastics, cans and glass, and food. Stow the bags so nothing blows overboard. Land everything at the marina’s reception facilities. If something goes overboard by accident, try to recover it.
2Key data
- Plastics
- Never overboard, anywhere
- Food waste, outside special areas
- Ground (25 mm): over 3 nm; not ground: over 12 nm; en route
- Food waste, in special areas
- Ground only, over 12 nm, en route; unground: never
- Placards
- Ships of 12 m length overall or more
- Garbage management plan
- 100 GT or more, or certified for 15 or more people
3Key points
- 1
Annex V bans garbage overboard except where it expressly allows it.
- 2
Plastics never go overboard, in any sea, from any boat.
- 3
Without a grinder, food waste needs over 12 nm from land outside special areas, en route.
- 4
In the Mediterranean special area, only ground food waste, over 12 nm, en route.
- 5
Boats of 12 m or more display garbage placards.
4Frequent mistakes
Wrong: Biodegradable bags can go overboard.
Right: Bags count as plastic. No plastic of any kind goes overboard.
Wrong: In the Mediterranean, unground food scraps can go over the side 12 miles out.
Right: The Mediterranean is a special area: only ground food waste, over 12 nm, en route. Unground food stays aboard.
Wrong: Glass and cans sink, so they can go overboard far offshore.
Right: Annex V bans glass, metal and other garbage overboard everywhere. Land them ashore.
5Practice case & exam keys
You are crossing from Mallorca to Sardinia in an 11 m yacht with no food grinder, about 40 nautical miles from the nearest land. Your crew wants to throw vegetable peel and cooked leftovers overboard, and the bin is full of plastic packaging.
Show the answer
The Mediterranean is an Annex V special area. Only ground food waste may go overboard there, more than 12 nm from land and en route. Your food waste is not ground, so it stays aboard, in a sealed bag. The plastic packaging never goes overboard anywhere. Compress it, stow it securely and land everything at the marina in Sardinia.
Exam keys
- Annex V: all garbage overboard is banned unless expressly allowed; plastics never.
- En route and as far from land as practicable: outside special areas, ground food over 3 nm, unground over 12 nm; in special areas ground food only, over 12 nm.
- The Mediterranean is a special area; placards from 12 m, garbage management plan from 100 GT or 15 people.
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