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mortehoe

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I was told earlier this week mid ocean that I was no longer allowed to throw anything organic or inorganic over the side and had to take it all back to the mainland and bin it.

Apparently there's some UK Act maybe "marine protection act" or "maritime" or whatever that I can't even google ......

So a) how do I pee over the side? b) what do I do with the porridge that I can't eat .... etc!!! ???


M
 
er - 'What Pee?' and 'What porridge' - been crossing legs for 4 weeks and finished all my porridge like a good boy ... honest...
 
You've been told fibs. Marpol tells you what can, and what cannot go over the side, and in the most simple terms, anything except oil, chemicals and plastic can go. This is regulated by the IMO.

Any UK act would only apply to UK territorial waters.
 
What Exactly Is The UK Territorial Waters Position On Garbage Disposal At Sea

I assume in UK territorial waters all garbage must be be disposed of onshore. I don't really know, just assume based on noticing things like Green Blue. I assume bilges and heads, outside harbours and marinas can be pumped out.

I guess this is something I really should know!
 
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Many thanks ... so I can continue to pee over the side :) :) :)

Woodlouse said:
You've been told fibs. Marpol tells you what can, and what cannot go over the side, and in the most simple terms, anything except oil, chemicals and plastic can go. This is regulated by the IMO.

Any UK act would only apply to UK territorial waters.
Click to expand...

It really got me that I could use the astern sub-surface heads/crapper but could not whistle down the wind from the shrouds and lay a phosphorescant trail .... :)
 
mortehoe said:
I was told earlier this week mid ocean that I was no longer allowed to throw anything organic or inorganic over the side and had to take it all back to the mainland and bin it.

Apparently there's some UK Act maybe "marine protection act" or "maritime" or whatever that I can't even google ......

So a) how do I pee over the side? b) what do I do with the porridge that I can't eat .... etc!!! ???


M
Click to expand...
Funny that - exactly the same question came up when Freestyle was crossing the Irish Sea last week. I regret that I was a bit off-hand in answering the question, a wholly inappropriate response given the wit and charm of the crew member concerned. What I should have done was to draw said crew member's attention to Freestyle's environmental code of conduct, which subscribes to:

Welcome aboard!
This is a ‘Green Blue’ boat.
​
On this boat we...
  • never allow rubbish to go overboard
    (yup, just managed to catch that 90-quid snatch block before it went over the side)
  • don’t let oil or fuel spill into the water
    (surround the diesel nozzle with yards of paper towel when filling up; always syphon from cans, don't try pouring)
  • use onshore toilets where possible
    (and spare your crewmates from the sound effects, not to mention the pong - which reminds me, must get round to fixing that leak in the heads)
  • navigate carefully when we see marine animals and keep wash to a minimum
    (er, what wash?)
  • choose our anchoring site carefully
    (wherever possible near a nice man with more scallops than he can eat)
  • use low phosphate, environmentally friendly products
    (Ecover works with more or less everything except goose grease; Fairy liquid is kept for emergencies only in the maintenance locker)
  • recycle our every day waste
    (It's amazing what you can turn into a delicious soup; pity about the absence of a bottle bank at Port St Mary, mind)
  • safely dispose of waste from maintenance e.g. antifoul
    (Better still, use Coppercoat)

I may be stepping on banana skins and egg shells here, but crew members who respond to the above notice with "Smug git" are then asked whether they have the licence required by law for the deposition of any article in the sea.

The following comes from Waste disposal and pollution control:

"Part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act (FEPA) 1985 requires that a licence be obtained from the licensing authority* to deposit any articles or substances in the sea or under the seabed. The primary objectives are to protect the marine ecosystem and human health, and to minimise interference and nuisance to others. It is the licensing authorities’ policy that no waste be disposed of at sea if there is a safe and practicable land-based alternative. Since 1998, most forms of disposal at sea have been prohibited, the only significant exception being material dredged from ports and harbours. Even this is strictly controlled and only allowed where the material cannot be used beneficially (e.g. for beach replenishment).

*Defra or WAG, administered on their behalf by the Marine Consents and Environment Unit (MCEU)."

Good grief, did I break the law by instructing Dickies to deposit Freestyle in the sea earlier this year?
 
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"Since 1998 . ."

Pity about the 2,000 years previous when anything we didn't want, from sewage & garbage thro' poisons to munitions & nuclear waste, has been wantonly dumped in the shallow seas around our coast.

It feels like a case of too little, too late too me. I can clearly remember the tideline of ship's waste that I used to wander along in my youth on the Mersey. I never got over how many grapefruit people ate when at sea. Obviously all about minimising the risk of scurvey. Don't Thames barges still carry London's waste out to sea for dumping? All the junk off all the yots & mobos' for a whole year probably wouldn't equal one barge full.
 
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