Maritime Academy
Shipboard Incinerator
Classify the waste, check location, verify the approved unit and maintain an evidence chain.
Read MARPOL Annex VI regulation 16 with Annex V. Unit-specific and local port requirements also apply.
Rules and bulletins may change. Before operation or voyage, verify the latest official source and ship-specific applicability. This page is not permission, certification or a real-time risk notice.
FOUR-STAGE TOPIC OVERVIEW
Establish applicability, then verify the operation
Identify waste
Check place/prohibition
Verify unit procedure
Manage ash/records
1 · Classify what will be burned
Regulation 16 prohibitions include Annex I/II/III cargo residues/contaminated packaging, PCBs, garbage with more than traces of heavy metals, halogen-containing refined petroleum products, sludge/sewage sludge not generated onboard and EGCS residues. PVC requires the relevant IMO type-approval conditions. Do not feed unidentified waste.
Reference: IMO — Shipboard incineration, regulation 16 ↗2 · Apply location restrictions precisely
Burning ship-generated sewage sludge/sludge oil in main/auxiliary power plant or boilers is prohibited within ports, harbours and estuaries. Do not misstate this as an identical blanket prohibition on every approved incinerator operation: independently verify local incinerator restrictions and permissions.
Reference: IMO — Shipboard incineration, regulation 16 ↗3 · Follow the exact unit procedure
Match type approval, manual, training and permitted waste classes. Obtain prechecks, ventilation, auxiliary fuel, temperature/feed permissions, alarms and cooling sequence from maker procedures. Never defeat interlocks. This page is not an ignition or maintenance instruction.
Reference: IMO — Shipboard incineration, regulation 16 ↗4 · Manage ash and records
Link incineration to appropriate Garbage Record Book/ORB entries. Do not assume ash/unburned residues may go overboard; follow waste-management and reception arrangements. Sludge quantities, tank changes and operation times must reconcile.
Reference: IMO — MARPOL Annex V, garbage and records ↗MASTER • RESPONSIBLE OFFICER • COMPANY
Six field checks
- Identify waste type, origin and prohibited classes.
- Verify position and port/terminal restrictions.
- Check the approval/manual permits that waste.
- Complete training, alarms and prechecks under vessel procedures.
- Stop on deviation; segregate uncertain waste and escalate.
- Complete sludge/waste, ash and record/receipt chain.
Educational checklist. Completion is not operational/compliance approval; use the relevant vessel permits/forms separately.
Documents to have available
- IMO approval and manual
- Garbage Management Plan and GRB
- Sludge/ORB records
- Port instructions and ash receipts
Onboard scenarios
Plastic waste, but PVC content is unknown.
Segregate and identify it; do not feed before checking approval.
Burning sludge in a boiler while in port.
Apply the regulation 16.4 restriction; do not operate that alternative. Also verify local instructions.
LEARNING CHECK
Think of your answer, then reveal the explanation
May EGCS residues be incinerated?
No; they are included in regulation 16 prohibitions.
Do all units share temperature/feed settings?
No. Follow applicable approval conditions and maker procedures.
Self-assessment only; no exam result, personnel record or competence certificate is generated.
Open the official sources
IMO — Shipboard incineration, regulation 16
IMO regulatory explanation
Open source ↗WWW.IMO.ORGIMO — MARPOL Annex V, garbage and records
IMO regulatory explanation
Open source ↗Legal instruments, explanatory guidance and operational bulletins have different roles. Check later amendments and consolidated texts where needed. Access and external documents remain under the publisher’s control.