Oil Discharge Monitoring and Control Equipment (ODME) - Tanker Doc No: RF0044

Op Version: 1

Reference Material

This equipment is required on all oil tankers of 150 gross tons or above, in order to comply with
MARPOL 73/78 Regulations. They must comply with Annex 1: Regulations for the Prevention of
Pollution by Oil, Chapter 2, Regulation 15(3), with regard to the specifications recommended by
IMO, under resolution A586(14), MEPC24(22) The Revised Guidelines and Specifications for Oil
Discharge Monitoring and Control Systems. These can be found in the IMO publication IMO-608E.

It must be remembered that the MARPOL 73/78 Regulations cover not only the prevention of oil
pollution from ships, but all pollution from various different materials and from all ships. This section
only deals with the requirements regarding pollution by oil and which are applicable to oil tankers
operated by the Company.

The principle aim of this equipment is to show proof that a vessel has complied with the
requirements of Annex 1, Chapter 2, Regulation 9 and should provide a continuous record of:

• The discharge of oil in litres per nautical mile.

• The total quantity of oil discharged or the oil content of the discharge and the rate of discharge.

These records must be identifiable for both date and time and should be kept for at least 3 years.

The equipment shall be interlocked with any discharge of effluent into the sea, and has to be
capable of stopping the discharge whenever the instantaneous rate of discharge exceeds that
permitted by the regulations. Any failure of the equipment should similarly prevent and stop any
discharge of effluent.

Regulation 9 of Annex 1, Chapter 2 of the MARPOL regulations dictates the limitations imposed on
oil tankers as to where, when and how much oil content can be discharged overboard.

The discharge of oil or oily mixtures is only permitted when:

• The tanker is not within a “Special Area”.

• The tanker is more than 50 nm from the nearest land.

• The tanker is proceeding “en route”.

• The instantaneous rate of discharge of the oil content does not exceed 30 litres per nautical
mile.

• The total quantity of oil discharged does not exceed 1/30,000 of the total quantity of the
particular cargo of which the residue formed a part.

• The tanker has an oil discharge monitoring and control system and slop tank arrangement as
required by the regulations.

The system for the monitoring and control of overboard discharge consists of six basic components
which are interrelated and interactive. There are three components which provide input to a central
control unit (CCU) which interlocks and controls the overboard discharge valve. Signals from each
part of the system are recorded as a permanent record of any overboard discharge. The three input
components are, ship’s speed, discharge flow rate and oil content of the discharge.

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Oil Discharge Monitoring and Control Equipment (ODME) - Tanker Op Doc No: RF0044
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The ship’s speed input is taken directly as an electrical signal from the ship’s electric log.

The discharge flow rate input is taken from a flow meter in the discharge line. The output signal from
the flow meter is a pneumatic signal that is converted to an electrical signal for input into the CCU.

The oil content input is derived from a continuous sampling system. The continuous flow sample is
passed through a measuring cell that detects the content of oil within the sample. This signal is
converted to an electrical signal and is input into the CCU. There are various methods of detecting
the oil content. The system most common is by passing the sample through a light detection
system. A laser beam is shone through the discharge sample. If the sample is pure fresh water then
there is no scattering of the light as it passes through the water. If however there are contaminations
within the water in a homogenous mixture, this will scatter the light beam at specific angles
depending upon the density and size of the contaminating droplets and the wavelength of radiation.
As oil concentration in the sample increases, the direct light decreases logarithmically and the
scattered light increases linearly.

In the sample cell both the direct light and the scattered light are detected and compared. This
comparison translates and results in the measurement of oil concentration within the sample as an
electrical signal input to the CCU.

Other contaminations and entrained air in the sample are discriminated out by additional detection
of the light scattered by solid particles in the sample such as mud or rust, the reflection of which is
vastly different to that reflected by oil. Air in the sample is eliminated through an air separator before
the sample passes through the measuring cell.

The CCU takes the three signals and computes the reading of instantaneous rates of discharge of
oil in litres per nautical mile and the total oil content discharge (or the oil content and rate of
discharge). The formulae used in these calculations are:

Litres/nautical mile (instantaneous discharge rate) = (oil content x flow rate/ship’s speed) x 10-3

Total discharge = Integrated sum of oil content x flow rate x 10-3

If at any time during the discharge the instantaneous discharge rate exceeds 30 litres per nautical
mile, then the CCU will activate to stop the discharge. When the total limit is reached, the CCU will
again activate to stop the discharge and prevent any further discharge. The CCU is also interlocked
to prevent any discharge unless the system is fully operational. There are basically two ways in
which the discharge is controlled and stopped. The first is to stop the pump, this will stop the
discharge flow and then shut the overboard discharge valve. The second is to open a recirculation
valve and shut the overboard discharge valve. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages,
but the latter system is more common.

The CCU also controls the recording device, which will give a printout of the data as required by the
IMO regulations and recommendations. As part of the IMO MARPOL Regulations each vessel must
have an operations manual of the Oil Discharge Monitoring and Control system. This manual gives
full details of the operational requirements of the system fitted on board the vessel as well as
manual operations, with the express intention that no oil can be discharged except in compliance
with Regulation 9. Therefore, full details of all the system components and their operation and
maintenance are contained in the manual. Details of operating the system in both automatic and
manual modes and the procedural requirements in the event of an operational alarm or system
failure alarm are also described.

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Both the equipment and manual are required to be approved by the Administration, i.e., Flag State
and certified as such.

Full details of the IMO requirements and recommendations can be found in the IMO publications
MARPOL 73/78 consolidated edition of 1997, including the Oily-Water Separators and Monitoring
Equipment, both of which can be found on board.

Graphic - Simplified Schematic Diagram of Oil Discharge Monitoring and Control

System

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The aforementioned diagram shows a typical oil discharge monitoring and control system. To
operate the system it must first be initialized. This is done by switching the system on and setting
the valves etc. for the flow meter(s), sample point(s), supplying fresh water and checking the control
air supply. Inputting data and checking the time and date requirements. Input data required will be
the maximum allowable quantity of oil that is permitted to be discharged and zeroing the quantity
presently discharged the parameters for flow rate.

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Oil Discharge Monitoring and Control Equipment (ODME) - Tanker Op Doc No: RF0044
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Full details of the system and its operation and maintenance is found in the “Oil Discharge
Monitoring and Control System” manual on board.

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