Guidance for Recording of Operations in ORB Part-I

 General Guidelines:

• All Oil Record Book entries shall be made as per the latest IMO regulations/amendments in force.

• ORB Part I shall be provided to every Oil tanker of 150 gross tonnages and above and every ship of 400 gross tonnages and above, other than oil tankers, to record relevant machinery space operations.

• This Guidance is intended to facilitate compliance with MARPOL requirements onboard ships by providing on how to record the various operations in the ORB by using the correct codes.

• There are various sections to record the operations which are framed under code C to code I

• Operations should be recorded in chronological order as they have been executed on board. 

• Do not leave any full lines empty (blank lines) between successive entries.

• Dates should be entered in dd-MONTH-yyyy format, e.g., 01-JAN-2021.

• All Entries are to be made and signed by the officer or officers in charge of the operations concerned and each completed page shall be signed by the Master of the vessel.

• The Oil Record Book must be kept on board for 3 years from the last entry made.

• Tank nomenclature should be recorded as per the format noted within the International Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate (IOPPC) Supplement. 

• If a wrong entry has been recorded in the Oil Record Book (ORB), it should immediately be struck through with a single line in such a way that the wrong entry is still legible. The wrong entry should be signed and dated, with the new corrected entry following.

• Recording of quantities retained in bilge water holding tanks listed under the IOPPC supplement is voluntary and required by the convention.

• Recording of any general maintenance of items pertaining to the OWS remains voluntary and is not required to be recorded in the ORB.

• Incineration and landing ashore of oily garbage and used filters should be recorded in the Garbage Record Book only.

• Chief Engineer is fully responsible for all entries in the Oil Record Book and he should train other engineers in making entries and ensure all entries made in the Oil Record Book are correct.

• All entries to be made with a pen whereas the entries recorded in pencil are not accepted. No white ink (correction fluid) to be used to delete any entries in the ORB.

• All certified Engineer officers should be familiar with OWS (including testing 15ppm alarm) and Incinerator operations.

List of items to be Recorded:

(A) Ballasting or Cleaning of Oil fuel Tanks

(1) Identity of tank(s) ballasted

(2) Whether cleaned since they last contained oil and, if not, type of oil previously carried

(3) Cleaning process:

1. Position of ship and time at the start and completion of cleaning.
2. Identify tank(s) in which one or another method has been employed (rinsing through, streaming, cleaning with chemicals; type and quantity of chemicals used, in cubic meters)
3. Identity of tank(s) into which cleaning water was transferred and the quantity in cubic meters

(4) Ballasting:

1. Position of ship and time at start and end of ballasting.
2. Quantity of ballast if tanks are not cleaned, in cubic meters. 

(B) Discharge of Dirty Ballast or Cleaning Water from Oil Fuel Tanks referred under Section (A)

(5) Identity of tank(s)

(6) Position of ship at the start of discharge

(7) Position of Ship on completion of discharge

(8) Ship's speed(s) during Discharge

(9) Method of Discharge

1. Through 15ppm equipment
2. To reception facilities

(10) Quantity Discharged, in cubic meters

(C) Collection, transfer and disposal of oil residues (sludge) (click here to view example entries)

(11) Collection of oil residues (sludge)

• Quantities of oil residues (sludge) retained onboard. The quantity should be recorded weekly (this means that the quantity must be recorded once a week even if the voyage lasts more than one week)

1. Identity of tank(s)
2. The capacity of the tank(s)....................................................................cubic meters
3. The total quantity of retention..............................................................cubic meters
4. Quantity of residue collected by manual operation..............................cubic meters

(Operator initiated manual collections where oil residue (sludge) is transferred into the oil residue (sludge) holding tank(s).)

(12) Methods of transfer or disposal of oil residues (sludge) 

• State quantity of oil residues transferred or disposed of, the tank(s) emptied and the number of contents retained in cubic meters.

1. To reception facilities (identify port)
2. To another (other) tank(s) (indicate tank(s) and the total content of tank(s))
3. Incinerated (indicate total time of operation)
4. Other methods (state which)

(D) Non-automatic starting of discharge overboard, transfer or disposal otherwise of bilge water which has accumulated in machinery spaces (click here to view example entries)

(13) Quantity discharged, transferred, or disposed of, in cubic meters

(14) Time of discharge, transfer or disposal (start and stop)

(15) Method of discharge, transfer or disposal:

1. Through 15 ppm equipment (state position at start and end)
2. To reception facilities (identify port)
3. To slop tank or holding tank or other tanks (indicate tank(s); state quantity retained in a tank(s), in cubic meters)

(E) Automatic starting of discharge overboard, transfer or disposal otherwise of bilge water which has accumulated in machinery spaces (click here to view example entries)

(16) Time and position of the ship at which the system has been put into an automatic mode of operation for discharge overboard, through 15 ppm equipment.

(17) Time when the system has been put into an automatic mode of operation for transfer of bilge water to holding tank (identify tank).

(18) Time when the system has been put into manual operation.

(F) Condition of the Oil Filtering Equipment (click here to view example entries)

(19) Time of system failure.

(20) Time when the system has been made operational.

(21) Reasons for failure.

(G) Accidental or other exceptional discharges of oil (click here to view example entries)

(22) Time of occurrences

(23) Place or position of the ship at the time of occurrences

(24) Approximate quantity and type of oil 

(25) Circumstances of discharge or escape, the reasons therefore and general remarks.

(H) Bunkering of fuel or bulk lubricating oil (click here to view example entries)

(26) Bunkering:

1. Place of Bunkering
2. Time of Bunkering
3. Type and quantity of fuel oil and identity of the tank(s) (state quantity added, in tonnes and total content of tank(s)) 
4. Type and quantity of lubricating oil and identity of the tank(s) (state quantity added, in tonnes and total content of tank(s))

(I) Additional Operational Procedures and General remarks (click here to view example entries)        

    The following entries are made under Code I:

• Any missed entry.
• De-bunkering of Fuel oil.
• Transfer of oil residues from engine room oil residue tank to slop tank.
• Transfer of bilge water from tanks in machinery space to the slop tank.
• Voluntary declaration of quantities retained in bilge water holding tank(s).
• Optional sealing of MARPOL Annex I related valves or equipment.
• Breaking of optional seal on MARPOL Annex I related valves or equipment.

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Reference: IMO Publications & Documents - International Conventions - MARPOL - Annex I - Appendix III - Form of Oil Record Book