Transport Publication TP 11710 E
Recognizing the need to improve the requirements for the design and construction of oil tankers to prevent accidental oil pollution in the event of collision or grounding, Transport Canada adopted Standards for the construction of new and existing Canadian tankers, and for new and existing non-Canadian registered oil tankers, when such non-Canadian-registered tankers operate in Canadian waters and the fishing zones of Canada in 1993.
These Standards were developed from two sources, namely:
- the International Maritime Organization’s ( IMO ) International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships ( MARPOL ), specifically Regulations 13F, 13G and 13H to Annex I of MARPOL for new tankers and existing large tankers and
- the U.S. 0il Pollution Act of 1990, with specific reference to the United States Coast Guard Interim Final Rule on Double Hull Standards for Vessels Carrying Oil in Bulk, issued 12 August 1992 for smaller existing tankers.
In 1995, the Oil Pollution Prevention Regulations were amended to incorporate these Standards by reference in section 14.2, which stated “Any oil tanker that is engaged in voyages that take place in waters under Canadian jurisdiction shall comply with Standards for the Double Hull Construction of Oil Tankers, TP 11710, published by the Canadian Coast Guard on July 6, 1993, as amended from time to time, other than sections 3 and 5 and subparagraphs 24(a)(i), (b)(i) and (c)(i) of those Standards”.
Subsequent to the sinking of the ERIKA off the coast of France in 1999, amendments were made to Regulation 13G of Annex I of MARPOL in resolution MEPC .95(46) in order to bring the international requirements more in line with OPA 90 requirements, including the phase out of smaller tankers and the elimination of single-hulled tankers by 2015. Following the PRESTIGE oil spill in 2002, further amendments were made to regulation 13G of Annex I of MARPOL and a new regulation 13H was added. These amendments incorporated further acceleration of the phase-out scheduled for single-hulled tankers, a ban on the carriage of heavy grades of oil by singled hulled tankers and an extended application of the Condition Assessment Scheme. The amendments are contained in resolutions MEPC .111(50) and MEPC .112(50). Annex I of MARPOL was revised in 2007, as a result of which the double hulling provisions are now contained in Regulations 19, 20 and 21 of Annex I.
The U.S. have indicated that they will continue to apply OPA 90 and will, therefore, not implement Annex I of MARPOL .
These Standards incorporate the new Annex I provisions for existing tankers but, recognizing that the U.S. will still apply OPA 90 and that the two schemes are close but not identical, will also continue to include OPA 90 provisions in certain instances.
OPA 90 phase out provisions will continue to be applied to the following existing tankers:
- Canadian tankers on domestic trade or only trading to the U.S.
- U.S. tankers trading only to Canada or in transit through waters under Canadian jurisdiction
- Canadian tankers that are less than 5000 DWT , except tankers over 600 DWT on international trade carrying heavy grade oil as cargo
- non-Canadian tankers on the coasting trade
- non-Canadian tankers on international trade calling at Canadian ports that are less than 5000 DWT , except tankers over 600 DWT carrying heavy grade oil as cargo
MARPOL Annex I phase out provisions will be applied to other existing tankers:
- Canadian tankers over 5000 DWT requiring international certification
- non-Canadian tankers over 5000 DWT on international trade in waters under Canadian jurisdiction
- tankers over 600 DWT on international trade carrying heavy grade oil as cargo
In 2007, the Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and for Dangerous Chemicals amalgamated several regulations under the Canada Shipping Act, including the Oil Pollution Prevention Regulations. Rather than incorporating the provisions of TP 11710 by reference, as was done in section 14.2 of the Oil Pollution Prevention Regulations, the Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and for Dangerous Chemicals included the requirements for double hulling in the regulation itself in sections 54 to 57. The Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and for Dangerous Chemicals also include the double hulling requirements for non-propelled oil barges, as required under TP 11960, Standards and Guidelines for the Construction, Inspection and Operation of Barges that Carry Oil in Bulk. The Standards for the Double Hull Construction of Oil Tankers may be used as a companion document to the Regulations and should not be seen as adding to or detracting from existing statutory or regulatory requirements that will prevail in the case of conflict with this Standard.
Annex I of MARPOL provides Administrations with the option to accept or deny several provisions regarding double hulling. Canada’s decisions regarding these have been incorporated into the Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and for Dangerous Chemicals, and may be summarized as follows:
- Regulation 19.5 of Annex I allows alternate designs to double hulls to be used – Canada has accepted this as noted in paragraph 54(2)(a) of the Regulations
- Regulation 20.8.2.1 of Annex I allows Parties to deny entry to tankers after 2015 even if they have been granted an extension to operate after that date by their own Administration under Regulation 20.5 – Canada has chosen to deny entry to such tankers after 2015 as noted in subsection 54(9) of the Regulations, but under subsection 54(8) they would be allowed entry up to 2015
- Regulation 20.8.2.2 of Annex I allows Parties to deny entry to tankers even if they have been granted an extension to operate after their phase-out date by their own Administration under Regulation 20.7 – Canada has chosen to allow entry to such tankers as noted in subsection 54(8) of the Regulations
- Regulation 21.7.1 of Annex I allows Parties to exempt tankers carrying heavy grade oil from the requirement to be double hulled immediately if they operate only domestically – Canada has chosen to exempt all such tankers from this requirement as noted in paragraph 56(3)(a) of the Regulations, but they would still be subject to the requirements of section 57 of the Regulations
- Regulation 21.8.2 of Annex I allows Parties to deny entry to tankers or deny them to transfer oil in their waters even if they have been granted an extension to operate after their phase-out date by their own Administration under Regulation 21.5 or 21.6 – Canada has chosen to allow entry to such tankers as noted in subsection 56(10) of the Regulations.
Section 36 of the Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and for Dangerous Chemicals specifies that non-Canadian tankers must carry international certification. Canadian tankers must carry either Canadian certification, if they operate exclusively in waters under Canadian jurisdiction, or international certification if they operate outside these waters; in many cases Canadian tankers carry both certificates. Canadian Oil Pollution Prevention Certificates ( COPP ) will reflect the OPA 90 phase out dates whereas International Oil Pollution Prevention Certificates ( IOPP ) issued to Canadian tankers will reflect the MARPOL Annex I phase out dates. Vessel operators would not be prohibited from changing the service of a tanker in order to take advantage of any delayed phase out under either the OPA 90 or MARPOL regimes, but tankers would be required to meet all other applicable requirements. In particular, a Canadian domestic tanker with a COPP Certificate would be expected to meet all applicable international safety requirements to operate as a foreign-going vessel before being issued an IOPP Certificate.
All resolutions produced by the International Maritime Organization that are mentioned in this Standard are available in English on the IMO ’s website at http://www.imo.org/ by selecting ‘Information Resources’, then ‘Index of IMO Resolutions’ then selecting the appropriate Committee (copies in French may be obtained from MaritimeKnowledgeCentre@imo.org on an ad hoc basis, provided that they are not sales items). The lists may also used to determine if further amendments have been made to any IMO documents – this version of this Standard reflects all amendments up to and including the 58th meeting of the Marine Environment Protection Committee in October 2008 ( MEPC 58).