This is a summary of the decisions taken at the fifty-second session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 52) held from 11 to 15 October 2004.

1. Adoption of Mandatory Instruments
The revised MARPOL 73/78 Annex I, MARPOL 73/78 Annex II and IBC Code were adopted at this session.
(1) MARPOL 73/78 - Annex I (See Attachment 1)
The revised MARPOL Annex I for the prevention of pollution by oil from ships was adopted and is expected to enter into force on 1 January 2007.
As a result of various amendments to MARPOL Annex I since its entry into force in 1983, the regulations become quite in complicated for users. For the purpose of making them user-friendly, MARPOL Annex I was re-constructed. For your reference, a table of contents of revised text is attached. In addition, the revised MARPOL Annex I contains the following new requirements approved at previous sessions.
(I) Oman area (Reg. 1)
The Oman area of the Arabian Sea is designated as a Special Area under MARPOL Annex I.
(ii) Pump-room bottom protection (Reg. 22)
For oil tankers of 5,000DWT and above constructed on or after 1 January 2007, the pump-room shall be provided with a double bottom tank or space. The depth of double bottom should not less than B/15 meters or 2 meters, whichever is lesser (the minimum 1 meter).
(iii) Accidental oil outflow performance (Reg. 23)
Oil tankers delivered on or after 1 January 2010 shall be applied new regulation 23, instead of the current regulations 22 to 24, to specify the tank arrangement for preventing oil outflow in the event of stranding and collision. In this regard, "Explanatory notes on matters related to the accidental oil outflow performance" was also adopted.
(iv) Shipboard oil pollution emergency plan (Reg. 37)
All oil tankers of 5,000 DWT and above shall have prompt access to computerised, shore-based damage stability and residual structure strength calculation programs.

(To be continued)