Training & Education
Maintaining a Clean Ship
By Captain Bob Hall, MARPOL Training Institute
About the Author
Did you know that between 1998 and 2007 the US Department of Justice collected more than $200m in criminal penalties in US waters and levied more than $100m in civil penalties? Did you know that 23 years of jail terms have been given out? So often a ship's crew gets themselves into trouble with the Port State Inspectors. The sometimes try to "fool" the inspector by lying, making false entries in the Oil Record Book, or omitting to make entries as required. This is no longer a "game" that a Chief Engineer or Master can win. Aerial surveillance, whistleblowers, and increasingly vigilant Port State Inspectors are all on the lookout for MARPOL violators. A frequent problem aboard ships occurs when the bilge holding tank becomes emulsified. A typical Oily Water Separator is not aboard to process emulsified effluent. As the bilge holding tank continues to fill, the engineers wonder how they will deal with this problem when the ship is at sea and without immediate access to shore side disposal. What solution is available to them? Training, company commitment to the environment, shore side operations and support all help. In our research we found the case of Accord Ship Management and Chief Engineer Francisco Sabando to represent a typical case. Accord Ship Management pleaded guilty to a four count criminal information charging it with conspiracy, violation of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), and two obstruction of justice charges. According to the plea agreement, Accord will pay a criminal fine of $1.75 million and serve a three year term of probation during which time all of the ships in its fleet will be banned from U.S. waters and ports. Chief Engineer Sabando pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges and will serve prison terms of five months. According to the plea agreements, on April 14, 2007, the Sportsqueen arrived at port in San Juan, Puerto Rico and was boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard. During the boarding, Coast Guard inspectors learned that Chief Engineer Sabando had ordered crew members to dump oil sludge and bilge wastes into
38
Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Ray Cain, marine safety inspector for Marine Safety Office Puget Sound inspects the engine room of the ferryboat Spokane here. (USCG photo by PA2 Jacquelyn Zettles)
Captain Bob Hall has worked in the Marine Industry since 1966. He has sailed as Master of tankers and containerships. He has worked ashore with American President Lines and Norwegian Cruise Lines, America (NCLA). At APL he was Director of Training for the global enterprise.
the ocean and had falsified the ship's oil record book to conceal these discharges. With assistance from several lower level crew members, Coast Guard inspectors discovered and seized the bypass hose and pipes used to dump the oil sludge, bilge waste, and contaminated ballast water overboard. As part of his plea, the Chief Engineer of the ship admitted he lied to the Coast Guard about his knowledge and use of the bypass hose. In addition to accepting the guilty pleas, the court issued monetary awards to five witnesses under a provision of APPS which gives the court discretion to award up to half of the fine to persons who provide information leading to a conviction under the Act to Prevent Pollution by Ships. The Ship's First, Second, and Third Engineers, as well as an Oiler and Bosun were each awarded $50,000. In 2007 two enterprising retired merchant mariners, an expert in adult education, and a very experienced information technology developer decided to create a training program on MARPOL regulations. Captain Robert Hall was appointed Managing Partner with his many years of experience aboard tankers and container ships. He also previously has served as Director of Training at American President Lines and as Vice President, Human Resources at NCL America. Chief Engineer and Naval Architect
David Hiller had many years of experience aboard tankers, LNG vessels and container ships. David during the last 9 years has actively participated in supporting ship owners and managers in MARPOL violation cases and ship inspection services. Roger Kent had delivered thousands of hours of adult education sessions. Roger holds a Masters Degree from Cornell in Adult Education. Roger is also a screen play writer. William Heinz, formerly Vice President at Kelly Services where he led the development of new hire testing and computer based staff training. Hiller is active in the subject traveling to ships working for ship owners to teach crews current MARPOL regulations as required by Environmental Compliance Plans enforced by the US Department of Justice. They named the program they developed Meeting MARPOL Standards (MMS). It is a comprehensive, computer-based, multi-media training system that officers, crew and shore side operations staff how to comply with MARPOL regulations. Within the program there are 6 tracks for tanker and non-tanker vessels, engineers, deck officers and crew. The program covers MARPOL Annexes I (Oil), IV (Sewage), V (Garbage) and VI (Air Pollution). MMS holds the learner's interest. It includes written and spoken instruction along with interactive exercises, Oil
Record Book entry drills and arcadetype learning exercises. MMS includes an electronic version of the MARPOL Consolidated Edition 2006 (under a license with the IMO), and most screens link directly to a page in the regulations. After every lesson, your trainees take an "open-book" assessment to confirm they have learned the material. MMS was delivered to their first customer in December 2007 and is now in use aboard approximately 50 ships and one training academy. Several companies and training academies have received trial programs and are evaluating them for purchase now. A companion product, Waste Management Best Practices, is included with MMS and is designed to teach crew the Best Practices in the Engine Room, Cleaning, Oily Water Separator, Sludge Processing, Incinerator Operation, Exhaust Gas Economizer, Garbage Handling and Superintendents Port Inspection. This premium, DNV certified, training system is designed to ensure ship operations staff fully understand both the MARPOL regulations and how to properly manage their waste streams aboard vessels to fulfill the requirements of MARPOL. For more information, visit the MARPOL Training Institute, Inc. website www.marpoltraining.com and view the demonstration modules of these two products.
Maritime Reporter & Engineering News