MARPOL Regulation on Cargo Record Book

• This regulation comes under MARPOL Annex II, Chapter 5 -Operational Discharges of residues of Noxious Liquid Substances, Regulation 15.

• Every ship to which this Annex applies shall be provided with Cargo Record Book, whether as a part of the Ship's official logbook or as an electronic record book.

• The Cargo Record Book shall be approved by the Administration taking into account the Guidelines developed by the Organisations.

• In the event of any accidental of a noxious liquid substance or a mixture containing such substance, an entry shall be made in the Cargo Record Book stating the circumstances of, and the reason for, the discharge.

• After completion of any operation as specified in this Annex, the operation shall be promptly recorded in the Cargo Record Book.

• Each completed operation shall be signed by the officer or officers in charge of the operations concerned and each completed page or Group of electronic entries shall be signed by the Master of the ship.

• The entries in the Cargo Record Book, for ships holding an International Pollution Prevention Certificate for the Carriage of Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk, shall be in English, French or Spanish. 

• If the entries are in an official national language of the state whose flag the ship is entitled to fly are also used, this shall prevail in case of a dispute or discrepancy.

• The Cargo Record Book shall be kept in such a place as to be readily available for inspection at all reasonable times on board the ship. 

• The Cargo Record Book shall be retained for a period of three years after the last entry has been made.

• The competent authority of the Government of a party may inspect Cargo Record Book onboard any ship to which this Annex applies while the ship is in port and may take a copy of any entry in that book and may require the Master of the ship to certify that the copy is a true copy of such entry.  

• The true copy of an entry that is certified by the Master of the ship from the Cargo Record Book shall be made admissible in any judicial proceedings as evidence of the facts stated in the entry.

• The inspection of a Cargo Record Book and the taking of the certified copy by the competent authority under this paragraph shall be performed as expeditiously as possible without causing the ship to be unduly delayed.

Reference: IMO Publications & Documents - International Conventions - MARPOL - Annex II