Marine pollution (MARPOL) annex II surveyors

MARPOL Annex II Surveyors

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78) Annex II, Regulation 16 requires the government of each party within the Convention to appoint or authorise surveyors for the purposes of exercising control procedures developed by the International Maritime Organisation. The Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution from Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk) Regulations 2018 (Statutory Instrument (S.I.) 2018/68, as amended by S.I. 2020/496 and S.I. 2021/818) implements Annex II of MARPOL.

Duties of a MARPOL surveyor

A MARPOL surveyor will only attend if required by a ship owner or his agent. The duties of a MARPOL surveyor are briefly:

• To attend the completion of the unloading of all category X substances and verify that the pre-wash has been conducted.

• To attend where the unloading of category Y and Z substances cannot be carried out in accordance with the ship's procedures and arrangements manual.

• To attend vessels, such as "offshore supply vessels," and verify that cargo tanks which have contained noxious liquid substances of pollution category X, Y or Z have been cleaned and the residues and washings have been put ashore to port waste reception facilities in accordance with the procedures and arrangements manual.

• To exempt ships from the requirements of Regulation 13.4 of MARPOL ANNEX II, exemption for a "pre-wash", as required. If the pre-wash requirements cannot be met at the discharge port, but will be carried out at the next port, it is to confirmed in writing that a reception facility at the other port is available and is adequate for such purpose.

• To endorse each ship's Cargo NLS record book accordingly.

• To provide prompt and accurate returns, using the returns form and including nil returns, every six months.

Surveyor operations

When attending a vessel the MARPOL surveyor should be supervised at all times by a responsible ships officer who is involved in cargo operations. The responsible ships officer should be present when any cargo sampling is carried out. He should be fully conversant with all aspects of the ship's sampling system including the operational characteristics of the valves.

The responsible ships officer should be satisfied that the sampling equipment is compatible with the ship's sampling points before starting any sampling.

The surveyor should only take samples from a designated sample point, as indicated by the ships officer. The sampling operations are to be conducted in a safe and efficient manner which will preclude any escape of cargo liquid or vapours to the atmosphere or the deck of the ship beyond that required by the sampling process. Any spillage is to be cleaned up immediately.

The Surveyor should not be left unattended whilst taking samples.

Fees for undertaking MARPOL surveyor duties

MARPOL surveyors may charge for their services. The amount of any charges should be fixed by agreement between the ship's master and surveyor.

Annual registration of MARPOL surveyors

MARPOL surveyors must re-register with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) every year in order for the authorisation to remain valid. It is the responsibility of the employing company to make sure that details of all authorised MARPOL surveyors are sent to the MCA in the period from 1st to 31st October of each year. Failure to do so will result in the removal of the company and associated surveyors from the list of authorised MARPOL surveyors. Re-registration should be undertaken using the re-registration and additional information form.

Updating MARPOL surveyors information

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency should be informed, at the address given at the bottom of this note, of any changes to the MARPOL surveyor list. This includes changes:

• to the primary contact,
• company address details or
• the addition or
• loss of MARPOL surveyors to the company listed.

Companies should not wait until the annual re-registration to inform the MCA of any changes.

MARPOL surveyors must inform the Maritime and Coastguard Agency if they change employer as this requires a new authorisation to be issued. Changes of this kind may be charged at the current hourly rate. If you do not inform the Maritime and Coastguard Agency of any changes like this it will result in MARPOL surveyor authorisation becoming invalid.

Future appointments

Any application for appointment as a MARPOL surveyor should be made to the address shown at the bottom of this page. Upon receipt of an enquiry regarding an application for authorisation the MCA will send costs and details of the information required.

Email: [email protected]

1. 9 November 2023

   Andrei Vasc added as a surveyor

2. 31 October 2023

   Updated list of MARPOL surveyors following the re-registration period for 2023, which now includes additional surveyor details where provided. This list has been updated from a CSV to a HTML attachment for better user experience.

3. 11 September 2023

   Michael S Dyke added to the list as an Approved Surveyor for AMS Global Group

4. 31 July 2023

   James Buchan has been removed from the list

5. 21 July 2023

   David Wigmore of Briggs Marine Fawley added tot he list of approved surveyors.

6. 10 July 2023

   Addition of new MARPOL surveyor to Intertek, Immingham.

7. 6 July 2023

   Addition of new MARPOL Surveyor for Intertek Caleb Brett, Middlesbrough

8. 23 June 2023

   David Tingle and Christopher Hardwick added as surveyors from Intertek Caleb Brett (Middlesbrough)

9. 20 March 2023

   Removal of Glenn Ralston, no longer working for McAuslands and Turner Ltd

10. 20 March 2023

    Nixon Joseph added to list of MARPOL Surveyors

11. 9 January 2023

    Gavin Szatmari added to the list of surveyors

12. 27 October 2022

    Updated list after the 2022 renewal period

13. 1 July 2022

    Updated approved MARPOL surveyors list to reflect the adding of Chris Edwards

14. 24 January 2022

    Added new approved MARPOL Surveyor - Reece Chapman

15. 11 January 2022

    New surveyor added to list

16. 26 November 2021

    PDF format change

17. 25 November 2021

    Updated PDF

18. 25 October 2021

    Updated list of MARPOL surveyors

19. 29 July 2021

    Edited details section

20. 16 December 2020

    Uploaded new approved list of MARPOL Surveyors

21. 2 November 2020

    Uploaded latest approved MARPOL Surveyors following the re-registration process

22. 3 September 2020

    A revised list of approved surveyors has been uploaded

23. 5 August 2020

    uploaded new list of approved MARPOL surveyors

24. 9 July 2020

    Uploaded revised approved MARPOL surveyor list - July 2020

25. 20 April 2020

    Uploaded revised Approved MARPOL Surveyor list

26. 7 April 2020

    Changes to address details and added an email address

27. 3 December 2019

    Updated list of MARPOL Surveyors added

28. 17 October 2019

    Updated Approved Marpol Surveyors list

29. 7 January 2019

    Updated List of approved Marpol Surveyors

30. 4 December 2018

    Latest list of surveyors added

31. 6 November 2018

    Updated list of MARPOL surveyors

32. 31 October 2018

    New revision of MARPOL Surveyors list updated

33. 31 October 2018

    Latest version of approved surveyors added (Oct 2018)

34. 7 August 2018

    Surveyor list updated Aug 2018

35. 7 February 2018

    Updated list of approved surveyors

36. 28 September 2016

    New MARPOL surveyor list

37. 8 July 2016

    Updated list of MARPOL approved surveyors (July 2016)

38. 7 March 2016

    Updated list of MARPOL approved surveyors.

39. 25 September 2015

    September 2015 MARPOL Surveyors List Uploaded

40. 16 July 2015

    Approved MARPOL surveyors list updated and addition of MEPC 118(52) Annex II MARPOL Amended 14-7-2015

41. 23 June 2015

    First published.

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