ABS Advisory Notice
Ship to Ship (STS) Operations & Plans

Regulatory Requirements:
Resolution MEPC.186(59) amends MARPOL 78/73 Annex I by introducing a new Chapter 8 containing Regulations 40, 41 and 42, regarding the prevention of pollution during transfer of oil cargo between oil tankers at sea (while underway or at anchor). 

Applicability: 
These new requirements apply to oil tankers of 150 gross tonnage and above engaged in the transfer of oil cargo between oil tankers at sea (STS operation) conducted on or after 1 April 2012.

Effective date:
These new Regulations under MARPOL 78/73 Annex I will enter into force on 1 January 2011. However, STS operations will be regulated after the date that the STS operations plan (STS plan) is required to be approved, but not later than 1 April 2012.

Information: 
All tank shipowners, operators and charterers are advised to note that these new Regulations will enter into force on the effective date indicated above. In brief, these Regulations require the following:

• Any oil tanker involved in STS operations will be required to have on board a STS operations plan, approved by the Administration no later than the date of the first annual, intermediate or renewal survey under MARPOL 73/78 Annex I that is carried out on or after 1 January 2011. This approved plan is required to prescribe how to conduct STS operations and be written in the working language of the ship.
• STS operations conducted on or after the date that the STS operations plan is required to be approved, but not later than 1 April 2012, will be required to be carried out in accordance with the approved STS plan.
• The STS operations plan is to be developed taking into account information contained in the IMO “Manual on Oil Pollution, Section 1, Prevention” as amended and the ICS and OCIMF “Ship to Ship Transfer Guide, Petroleum, fourth edition, 2005”.
• The person in overall advisory control of STS operations is to be qualified to perform all relevant duties taking into account the qualifications contained in the best practice guidelines for STS operations identified in the above mentioned information.
• Records of all STS operations are to be noted in the oil record book and retained on board for at least three years. The records are to be made readily available for inspection.
• Any oil tanker subjected to the regulation that plans STS operations within the territorial sea or the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of a Party to MARPOL is required to notify the relevant coastal State Party at least 48 hours in advance of any STS operations.
• When the estimated time of arrival at the location or area for the STS operations changes by more than six hours, a revised estimated time of arrival is to be notified.

These Regulations do NOT apply to (1) fuel oil bunkering operations, (2) any oil transfer operations associated with fixed or floating platforms, (3) STS operations necessary for securing the safety of a ship or saving life at a sea or for combating specific pollution incidents in order to minimize the damage from pollution, and (4) STS operations where either of the ships involved is a warship, naval auxiliary or other ship owned or operated by a State and used, temporarily only on government non-commercial service.

STS Plan Review & Approval

ABS can review, where so authorized to do so on behalf of the Administration, the STS operations plan under the new Chapter 8 requirements and issue the new Supplement to the IOPP Certificate, Form B.

The owner/operator may send the service request letter to the nearest ABS engineering office, together with a minimum of 4 copies of the ship-specific STS plan. Upon completion of review on behalf of the Administration, approved and stamped copies are distributed as follows:

• 3 copies to submitter for placement on board the vessel
• 1 copy for ABS files

Alternatively, the STS plan may be submitted electronically on CD-ROM or as an email attachment to the ABS submittal database login group at the email address: O2Esubmittals@eagle.org. The approved copy of the STS plan, appropriately stamped, will be returned to the submitted electronically.

Where the STS plan is incorporated into the existing ship management system (SMS), ABS requires that the index page, record of changes page and the relevant sections of the SMS incorporating the STS operations plan be submitted for review.