The Marine Environment Protection
Committee,
RECALLING Article 38(a) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization
concerning the functions of the Marine Environment Protection Committee conferred
upon it by international conventions for the prevention and control of marine
pollution from ships,
NOTING article 16 of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution
from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL),
which specifies the amendment procedure and confers upon the appropriate body of the
Organization the function of considering and adopting amendments thereto,
RECOGNIZING the need to provide a mandatory framework for ships
operating in polar waters due to the additional demands on ships, their systems and
operation, which go beyond the existing requirements of MARPOL, and other relevant
binding IMO instruments,
NOTING resolution MEPC.264(68), by which it adopted the International Code for Ships
Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code) with respect to its environment-related
provisions,
NOTING ALSO that the Maritime Safety Committee, at its ninety-fourth session,
adopted, by resolution MSC.385(94), the International Code for Ships Operating in
Polar Waters with respect to its safety-related provisions, and, by resolution
MSC.386(94), amendments to the 1974 SOLAS Convention to make the safety-related
provisions of the Polar Code mandatory,
HAVING CONSIDERED proposed amendments to MARPOL Annexes I, II, IV and V to make the
environment-related provisions of the Polar Code mandatory,
1 ADOPTS, in accordance with article 16(2)(d) of MARPOL,
amendments to Annexes I, II, IV and V, the text of which is set out in the annex to
the present resolution;
2 DETERMINES, in accordance with article 16(2)(f)(iii)
of MARPOL, that the amendments shall be deemed to have been accepted on 1 July 2016,
unless, prior to that date, not less than one third of the Parties or Parties the
combined merchant fleets of which constitute not less than 50% of the gross tonnage
of the world's merchant fleet, have communicated to the Organization their objection
to the amendments;
3 INVITES the Parties to note that, in accordance with
article 16(2)(g)(ii) of MARPOL, the said amendments shall enter into force on 1
January 2017 upon their acceptance in accordance with paragraph 2 above;
4 REQUESTS the Secretary-General, for the purposes of
article 16(2)(e) of MARPOL, to transmit certified copies of the present resolution
and the text of the amendments contained in the annex to all Parties to MARPOL;
5 REQUESTS FURTHER the Secretary-General to transmit
copies of the present resolution and its annex to Members of the Organization which
are not Parties to MARPOL.