The Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) Regulations 2008

Shipboard incineration

24.—(1) Subject to paragraph (6), all shipboard incineration must take place in a shipboard incinerator.

(2) Subject to paragraph (12),the owner of a ship on which a shipboard incinerator was installed after 31st December 1999 shall, on demand, demonstrate to a surveyor that the incinerator complies with Merchant Shipping Notice 1734 (M+F).

(3) Where a shipboard incinerator was installed on or before 18th May 2005 on a United Kingdom ship solely engaged in voyages within United Kingdom waters, the Secretary of State may on application by the owner direct that paragraph (2) does not apply to that incinerator.

(4) Shipboard incineration of the following is prohibited—

(a) the residues of any substances or materials referred to in Annex I, II or III of the Convention which have been carried as cargo in the ship and any related contaminated packing materials;

(b) polychlorinated biphenyls;

(c) garbage containing more than traces of heavy metals; and

(d) refined petroleum products containing halogen compounds.

(5) In this regulation “garbage” means all kinds of victual, domestic and operational wastes generated during the normal operation of a ship and liable to be disposed of continuously or periodically, but does not include fresh fish and parts thereof or sewage.

(6) While a ship is in a port, harbour or estuary, shipboard incineration of sewage sludge and sludge oil generated during the normal operation of the ship must not take place in the main or auxiliary power plant or boiler.

(7) Shipboard incineration of polyvinyl chlorides is prohibited except in a shipboard incinerator for which a Type Approval Certificate, has been issued in accordance with Merchant Shipping Notice 1734 (M+F).

(8) A ship with a shipboard incinerator installed on it must at all times carry an operating manual of the manufacturer of that incinerator, which specifies how to operate the incinerator within the limits described in Schedule 5 to Merchant Shipping Notice 1819 (M+F).

(9) Every person responsible for the operation of a shipboard incinerator must be trained and capable of implementing the guidance provided in the manufacturer’s operating manual.

(10) Combustion flue gas outlet temperatures must be monitored at all times and the waste must not be fed into a continuous-feed shipboard incinerator when the temperature is below 850°C.

(11) No batch-loaded shipboard incinerator is to be used if the temperature in the combustion chamber fails to reach 600°C within 5 minutes of start-up.

(12) The Secretary of State may approve the design, installation and operation of alternative shipboard thermal waste treatment devices that meet or exceed the requirements of this regulation for use instead of one issued in accordance with Merchant Shipping Notice 1734 (M+F).