The Regulation Concerning the Procedures for the Determination of Offences Committed by Ships and Other Maritime Vessels and for the Imposition of Fines for Such Offences and the Receipts to be Used
This Regulation entered into force following its publication in the Official Gazette on 3 November 1987 in its issue 19623.
Revisions to this Regulation entered into force following their publication in the Official Gazette on 1 April 1999 in its issue 23653 and on 4 November 2000 in its issue 24220.
THE REGULATION CONCERNING THE PROCEDURES FOR THE DETERMINATION OF OFFENCES COMMITTED BY SHIPS AND OTHER MARITIME VESSELS AND FOR THE IMPOSITION OF FINES FOR SUCH OFFENCES AND THE RECEIPTS TO BE USED
This Regulation was published in the Official Gazette on 3 November 1987 in its issue 19623.
SECTION ONE
Purpose, Scope, Basis, Definitions, Principles
Purpose
Article 1 – The purpose of this Regulation is to specify the procedures for the determination of offences committed by ships and other maritime vessels and for the imposition of fines for such offences and the principles concerning the form, distribution and inspection of the receipts to be used for the imposition of fines.
Scope
Article 2 – The provisions of this Regulation shall apply to the seas, internal waters, straits, gulfs, ports, natural lakes, artificial lakes, rivers, canals, and their shores, within the Turkish territorial waters, free zones and exclusive economic zones.
Basis
Article 3 – This Regulation has been issued on the basis of Article 24 of Law No. 2872 on the Environment, as amended by Law No. 3301.
Definitions
Article 4 – The following terms and expressions used in this Regulation are defined below:
"Ships and other maritime vessels" shall mean all air cushion vessels, floating vessels, platforms and other man-made facilities moving or floating on the water, and their equipment and installations;
"Oil" shall mean crude oil, fuel oil, sludge, waste oil and refined oil products;
"Fuel oil" shall mean the fuel used in the propelling machineries and auxiliary machineries of ships and other maritime vessels;
"Oily mixture" shall mean any mixture containing oil;
"Separated ballast" shall mean ballast water that is taken into a tank which has been completely separated from the oil cargo and the fuel tank system and has been allocated permanently for carriage of ballast or for cargoes excluding toxic materials in bulk and oil;
"Sewage" shall mean wastes coming from all types of toilet, urinal or closet scuppers or from washbowls, bathtubs and scuppers located in such places as sick bays and hospitals or from places in which live animals are kept, or wastes coming from another place and mixing with the above-mentioned wastes;
“Garbage” shall mean all types of food (excluding fresh fish and parts of fresh fish) and ship or non-ship operating wastes that are generated during the normal operation of the ship or other maritime vessel and that are likely to be disposed of regularly or periodically;
"Sludge" shall mean vestiges of oil that arise as a result of cleaning the fuel oil and lubricants or as a result of oil leaks in machinery volumes, on ships with a gross tonnage of 400 or more, in view of the type of machinery and the length of the voyage, and that cannot be subjected to any processing;
"15 P.P.M." shall mean that the rate of oil in a liquid is not more than 15 per million;
"Gross tonnage" shall mean the gross tonnage indicated on the Safety Building Certificate of a ship;
"Tank" shall mean a closed space which is designed to carry liquids in bulk and which is shaped by the fixed structure of the ship;
"Holding tank" shall mean the tank used to collect and store liquid wastes and leftovers and sewage;
"I.O.P.P. Certificate" shall mean the International Pollution Prevention Certificate issued by governments or by organisations authorised by governments;
"Oil Discharge Monitor" shall mean the internationally accepted oily water/ballast water discharge monitoring and control system;
"Bilge Water Separator" shall mean the separator that reduces the engine room oily water wastes and leftovers to the level of 15 P.P.M. before discharge;
"C.O.W." shall mean the Crude Oil Washing System;
"International standard connecting flange" shall mean the connecting apparatus at the end of the discharge circuit which is designed to transfer wastes from the tank in which they are collected to land-based or offshore receiving facilities;
"Exemption Certificate" shall mean the certificate issued by governments, or by organisations authorised by governments, for ships navigating in special areas such as the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Aegean, the Marmara Sea and the Red Sea or 12 miles off the land, to exempt them from the requirement of a bilge water separator and an oil discharge monitor, on condition that they do not discharge dirty ballast or bilge water into the sea;
"Standard Laboratory" shall mean a mobile or fixed laboratory with the capacity to perform chemical and biological analyses of water in order to determine pollution; and
“Dead Weight Ton-DWT” shall mean the difference in metric tons between the displacement of a ship in the waterline that corresponds to its summer freeboard in a water whose specific gravity is 1.025 and the empty weight of the ship.
Principles
The Ban on Pollution
Article 5 – It is banned to discharge ballast and bilge water or any type of waste and residue from ships and other maritime vessels into the seas, internal waters, straits, gulfs, ports, natural lakes, artificial lakes, rivers, canals and their shores within Turkish territorial waters, free zones and exclusive economic zones, either directly or indirectly.
Pollutants
Article 6 -
a) Oil, oily mixtures and waste oils;
b) Toxic liquids carried in bulk;
c) Harmful substances carried by sea in packaging or in containers, portable tanks or land and rail tank wagons;
d) Sewage coming out of ships and other maritime vessels; and
e) Garbage and solid or liquid substances,
which are discharged, released or poured into the waters shall be considered to be pollutants.
Receptacles of Toxic Substances
Article 7 – Empty receptacles, containers, portable tanks and land or rail wagons which have been used to carry toxic substances shall be treated as harmful substances unless all necessary measures are taken to ensure that they do not contain any residue which may be dangerous to the marine environment.
Drinking and Using Water
Article 8 – Boats, motors and similar vessels operating with fuel oil shall not be allowed to be used in rivers, lakes and artificial lakes from which drinking and using water is obtained. Sailing vessels, row boats, accumulator-powered vessels, and rafts shall be allowed. However, in circumstances where this is necessary, boats, motors and similar vessels operating with fuel may be allowed for the transport of people or cargo only. It is forbidden to discharge into the drinking and using water tank any waste water or ballast and bilge water which may come into being on vessels which are used for this purpose even if it is treated.
Water Products
Article 9 – Cultivation of water products in open seas in connection with fishing, and redischarging of fish, sponge and other water product wastes, shall not be subject to permission other than in ports, bays and gulfs.
Excavation and Other Operations
Article 10 – It is forbidden to make discharges from ships and other maritime vessels into the sea and shores for the purpose of disposing of excavation waste, debris, materials dreged from the sea bottom, sludge and similar wastes, except for special permission granted and practices allowed by other relevant laws.
Life Saving
Article 11 – Provisions of other laws shall be taken into consideration for ships and other maritime vessels deliberately polluting the places mentioned in Article 2 of this Regulation for the purpose of life saving.
SECTION TWO
ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITIES EMPOWERED TO IMPOSE FINES
Greater City Municipalities
Article 12 – The fines for polluting the shores, straits, ports, gulfs, lakes and rivers within the boundaries of a greater city shall be imposed by the Municipality of that greater city.
Coast Guard Commands
Article 13 – The fines for acts of pollution committed outside port boundaries and in the seas outside the boundaries of a greater city shall be imposed directly by the Coast Guard Command concerned.
Civil Governors
Article 14 – The fines for acts of pollution committed in seas within port boundaries and in all lakes and rivers outside the boundaries of greater city municipalities shall be imposed by the highest civil governor of the place.
Inspection, Monitoring and Communication
Article 15 – The authorities empowered to impose administrative fines shall constantly perform inspection and monitoring from the air, from the land and from the sea in places covered by this Regulation and take all necessary measures for inspection, monitoring and communication.
SECTION THREE
ADMINISTRATIVE FINES TO BE IMPOSED ON SHIPS AND OTHER MARITIME VESSELS
Fines
Article 16 – In accordance with Article 22 of Law No. 2872 dated 9 August 1983, as amended by Law No. 3301 dated 4 June 1986, administrative fines shall be imposed in the event of failure to comply with the ban on pollution:
A- On tankers discharging dirty ballast, in the amount of:
a) TL 5 million for those with up to 1,000 gross tons;
b) TL 10 million for those with 1,000 to 5,000 gross tons;
c) TL 50 million for those with over 5,000 gross tons;
B- On tankers and all other ships in the event that they discharge all types of waste or bilge water or that ships other than tankers evacuate dirty ballast, in the amount of:
a) TL 5 million for those with 18 to 1,000 gross tons;
b) TL 10 million for those with over 1,000 gross tons; and
c) TL 300,000 for ships with up to 18 gross tons and for non-ship maritime vessels polluting the sea or evacuating bilge water (excluding exhaust pollutions by vessels with a two-stroke engine fitted astern or an engine fuelled by gasoline mixed with oil).
SECTION FOUR
INSPECTION AND DETERMINATION TEAMS
Inspection and Determination Team
Article 17 – The authorities empowered to impose administrative fines shall duly appoint a sufficient number of Inspection and Determination Teams to inspect and determine pollutions caused by ships and maritime vessels. Each such team shall be composed of at least two persons who are specialised in this field.
Inspection and determination teams shall operate continuously.
Coordination related to the duties of inspection and determination teams shall be provided by the highest civil governors of the place.
Duties of Inspection and Determination Teams
Article 18 – In the event of a report, suspicion or actual observation of any pollution:
a) To reach the place of pollution by the fastest means of transport;
b) To determine the cause of pollution;
c) To compile information concerning the ship or other maritime vessel in accordance with the annexed forms;
d) To identify the pollution by means of photographs, films or video shooting;
e) To take the required samples from the polluted places and the pollutant;
f) To submit the samples they have taken to the specified competent standard laboratories without delay and to receive the results;
g) To draw up an official report indicating the actions taken and the causes of pollution; and
h) To deliver the official report drawn up, the relevant forms, photographs, films, video cassettes, samples and reports to the authorities empowered to impose administrative fines to which they are subordinated.
Transport for Inspection and Determination
Article 19 – The authorities empowered to impose administrative fines shall take all necessary measures for the Inspection and Determination Teams to reach the place of pollution by the fastest means of transport.
Providing Information
Article 20 – The highest civil governors of the place shall communicate information regarding the inspection and determination actions of the Inspection and Determination Teams to the Directorate-General for the Environment on a monthly basis.
SECTION FIVE
DETERMINATION OF THE OFFENCE
Determination of the Offence
Article 21 – In determinations to be made by an Inspection and Determination Team in the place of pollution:
A- Where the polluting ship or other maritime vessel is on location:
a) The polluted place and the pollutant shall be determined with a sufficient number of photographs, films and video shootings;
b) A sufficient amount of samples shall be taken from the polluted place and the pollutant;
c) The samples taken shall be placed in special receptacles and they shall be sealed;
d) Form (A) or (B) shall be filled in according to the tonnage of the ship or other maritime vessel;
e) The samples taken shall be sent without delay to the nearest competent standard laboratory for analysis;
f) The samples taken shall be immediately evaluated in the standard laboratory, and the result communicated in a report; and
g) A determination report shall be drawn up.
B- Where the polluting ship or other maritime vessel has left the place of pollution but remains within Turkish territorial waters, free zones or exclusive economic zones:
The authorities empowered to impose administrative fines in the place of pollution shall:
a) Determine the polluted place with a sufficient number of photographs;
b) Take a sufficient amount of samples from the polluted place;
c) Place the samples taken in special receptacles, seal them, and label them indicating the date, time and place of taking samples;
d) Immediately send the samples taken to the nearest competent standard laboratory for analysis;
e) Draw up a determination report; and
f) Notify the situation without delay to the office empowered to impose administrative fines in the place where the polluting ship or other maritime vessel is located for the implementation of a fine against it.
The authority empowered to impose administrative fines in the place where the ship or other maritime vessel is located shall:
a) Make a determination with photographs;
b) Take a sufficient amount of samples from the pollutant;
c) Place the samples taken in special receptacles, seal them, and label them indicating the date, time and place of taking samples;