Maritime companies dedicate considerable time and resources to comply with international, national and local environmental regulation. New regulations come into effect regularly, requiring companies to stay alert and adapt to the requirements. Evolving standards are crucial to track, as the repercussions for non-compliance can be costly.
Staying on top of all regulations involves proactively searching through multiple sources of information, determining the relevance, adapting existing policies and procedures as required before communicating changes to the business. This is a labour-intensive process with plenty of room for error. On top of this, companies must ensure fleet-wide compliance.
Regulations often only come into effect in specific circumstances, meaning they are only relevant at particular times and locations, and sometimes only for certain vessel types, cargoes and crew.
EnviroManager provides the latest regulations in one place, with summary guidance on how to comply. Regulations in force are displayed visually and shown in relevant situations through position-based information on the platform interface. Customisation to vessel type and equipment onboard is easily added using the built-in platform settings – providing clarity and relevant information for each vessel based on their setup. Collectively EnviroManager provides peace of mind, saves time and money by transforming new and updated regulations into actionable guidance – enabling shoreside and onboard teams to focus on the job at hand.
Scenario 1: Planning Operations to Ensure Compliance
A container vessel is traveling en route from Southampton to Miami. As the vessel departs from port, it will enter an ECA zone where there are strict limitations on the sulphur oxide emissions (SOx) the ship can produce. While in this zone, it will need to use a more expensive fuel, the Ultra-Low Marine Gas Oil (MGO). As it approaches its destination, it will re-enter an ECA zone where the same restrictions on fuel oil will apply.
On this journey, the vessel will be required to undergo a fuel changeover procedure twice. This involves the crew turning the EGCS system off then back on again – a process that takes manpower, precision and, crucially, time. In order to plan for when to start this procedure, bridge leaders need to know the exact limits of the ECA zones to plan for compliant operations.
The Solution
View the exact boundaries of Emission Control Areas and see exactly when your vessel is estimated to enter an ECA zone where regulations come into effect. Plan for safe, legal discharges outside of legislated zones so that vessels are prepared to safely navigate protected waters. Avoid faulty discharges and penalties by ensuring that crews have fully switched on EGCS equipment and completed fuel changeover by the time a vessel enters ECA zones.
Scenario 2: Staying on Top of Seasonal Regulations
A passenger vessel is travelling up the US East Coast from Charleston, USA to Halifax, Canada in mid-April. The route takes the vessel up the coastline where it will make several stops along the way.
The projected passage will take the vessel through several restricted zones, or Seasonal Management Areas (SMAs), where endangered North American Right Whales are expected to be feeding this time of year. In these zones, the vessel must slow down to a maximum of 10 knots per hour. In order to adhere to its schedule, the vessel must exceed this limit when it is able to, outside of these zones. The Master therefore needs to know the exact limits of each SMA to plan and know when they can speed up and slow down the vessel.
The Solution
EnviroManager uses colour coding to display on the map the precise locations of special zones along a route. By clicking on these zones, users can clearly see details of Environmental Areas along their route. They can see these zones on the same view as their planned passage, to see their distance from that zone and estimate arrival times in restricted zones.
Scenario 3: Interpreting Regulations
The China Maritime Safety Administration has issued a long, technical document that describes upcoming changes to the regulations in their territorial waters with regards to minimum distance vessels must be from nearest land to carry out waste discharges. This notice is written in technical language and describes several conditions that must be met for different types of waste in order for discharges to safely occur. While navigating, the master must correctly interpret where “nearest land” is, however in this scenario the distance is incorrectly interpreted – a common error – and the vessel disposes food waste too close to shore resulting in a fine.
The Solution
EnviroManager correctly interprets the phrase nearest land as the baseline, from which the territorial sea is established in accordance with UNCLOS. The baseline often differs from the coastline and it is critical to know where the baseline is located as this is point from which the regulations are referenced. Baselines are continually checked and verified by the OneOcean team so that these are are accurate within EnviroManager, thus ensuring clear guidance is available to crew onboard and shoreside to make informed decisions and reduce the risk of violating local maritime laws.
EnviroManager eliminates confusion and risk of noncompliance by displaying regulations as colour coded actions on display in the solution. The red, amber and green colour codes denote if an action is allowed, restricted, or completely prohibited, providing timely clarity and peace of mind.