Amendments to the IBC Code (MSC460(101) / MEPC318(74)), BCH Code (MSC463(101) / MEPC319(74)) and MARPOL 73/78 Annex II (MEPC315(74)) were adopted as noted in ClassNK Technical Information No.TEC-1191 and No.TEC-1192. The amendments will enter into force on 1 January 2021, and all ships carrying dangerous chemicals and/or noxious liquid substances in bulk need to satisfy the revised requirements prior to the date of entry into force. Considering the impact of the amendments, ClassNK would like to inform of the outline of the amendments as follows;

<Major revisions of MARPOL 73/78 Annex II>
1. Prewash requirements for persistent floating products
"Persistent floater" has been newly defined in the amendment. And for substances that are persistent floaters with a viscosity equal to or greater than 50 mPa・s at 20℃ and/or with a melting point equal to or greater than 0℃ (substances that are identified by '16.2.7' in column 'o' of chapter 17 of the IBC Code), a prewash procedure shall be applied in certain areas (e.g. North West European waters). The list of the identified persistent floating products is shown in Attachment 1 for your reference.

2. Revision of the standard format of P&A Manual
Along with the above 1, the standard format of the P&A Manual has been revised. Therefore, the P&A Manual corresponding to the revised standard format shall be approved and provided on board by the date of entry into force.

<Major revisions of IBC Code, BCH Code>
1. Revision of carriage requirements (Chapter 17 & 18)
Due to the revision of criteria for assigning carriage requirements for products (Chapter 21), the carriage requirements for all products have been reassessed, and most of them have been revised. Summary of the revised carriage requirements is shown in Attachment 2 for your reference.

2. Operational requirements for persistent floating products (Chapter 16)
According to the amendment of MARPOL 73/78 Annex II, for clarifying the subjected persistent floating products, new provision 16.2.7 has been added.

(To be continued)