Pollution Prevention in a Defence Context: Could an International Naval Ship Pollution Prevention Code be Feasible?

As responsible owners, navies are moving towards seeking compliance with International Maritime Organisation pollution-prevention conventions such as MARPOL, but are navies obligated beyond their social licence? In Australia, national maritime legislation is unambiguous: naval ships are excluded from the civilian maritime international conventions, but is it really that simple?

This presentation explores the complexity of international conventions and national legislation which make it anything but simple. A structure is proposed which has been developed as part of the Australian Naval Classification Rules, providing a consistent application of international conventions to naval ships and an outline for justifying an operational capability imperative when this is not appropriate. The focus is on the Australian context, but explores how this approach could be applied internationally.

The presentation also considers other sovereign nations to see whether a Naval Ships Pollution Prevention (NAVPOL) Code would be feasible. The potential benefits are clear: an internationally-endorsed code would provide clarity in purchasing decisions from shipbuilders and enable a consistent approach for managing pollution risks for naval ships entering sovereign waters.

Registration:

Registrations close at 6:00 pm AEST on Tuesday 30 April. Registration for in-person attendance is required to gauge numbers for catering. Those registered for online participation will be emailed the Zoom meeting ID and passcode on the evening of 30 April.