On October 16th, 2019 the Indian Directorate of Shipping issued order No. 05 of 2019, banning the use of single use plastic items onboard of ships.

This applies to both Indian and foreign flagged vessels.

The newly imposed regulation prohibits the carriage of any of the below mentioned items onboard Indian flagged ships. Foreign flagged ships
are only prohibited from using any such item while operating in Indian waters and must keep all their single-use plastic items locked in a store
during their stay in Indian ports and during their passage through the Indian Territorial Waters.

WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT:

• cutlery, plates and cups;
• bottles up to 10 liters for water and other drinks;
• garbage and shopping bags and
• dispensing containers for cleaning fluids that are less than 10 liters in volume.

WITH EFFECT FROM 1 JANUARY 2020:

  • bags, trays, containers, food packaging film;
  • milk bottles, freezer bags, shampoo bottles, ice cream containers;
  • bottles for water and other drinks, dispensing containers for cleaning fluids, biscuit trays;
  • hot drink cups, insulated food packaging, protective packaging for fragile items and microwave dishes, ice cream tubs, potato chip bags, bottle caps.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Assureds of Indian flagged vessels are strongly recommended to remove any of the abovementioned items from their vessels and document compliance during Port State Control. Foreign flagged vessels are recommended to enter a log entry identifying:

  • the single use plastic items available onboard the ship;
  • where the items are stored while the ship operates in Indian waters and
  • when (time, latitude and longitude) the items were placed in the store prior to entering Indian territorial waters.

Under MARPOL Annex V, all plastic waste generated during the normal operation of the ship is strictly banned from discharge in any waters.

India will no longer permit single use plastic items to be discharged to its port reception facilities.
Ships trading frequently to Indian ports may therefore have to adjust their garbage management plan accordingly in order to facilitate discharge of single use plastic items elsewhere.

QUESTIONS?

Should you have any questions following this information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

ABOUT EF MARINE

EF Marine provides Fixed Premium P&I solutions to Shipowners, Charterers and MultiModal operators.
EF Marine has a global client base and offices in Singapore and Rotterdam.
EF Marine provides ‘AA-‘rated security from Swiss Re Corporate Solutions with limits up to USD 500m. Through our partnership with Swiss Re Corporate Solutions we provide our clients with first class security combined with EF Marine’s extensive knowledge of the P&I market.