The Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) has issued a shipping notice on the mandatory procedures for the transfer of oil and other substances.
GMA Shipping Notice 017 Procedures for the Transfer of Oil and Other Substances, which includes bunkering operations, were developed to ‘safeguard oil transfer activities’ within Ghana’s maritime jurisdiction.
A failure to meet GMA requirements may result in the levying of heavy, non-negotiable fines. Be aware that both the violations and fine amounts included in the GMA lists of “Approved Fines for Marine Pollution Violations” may change. For example, Budd Ghana advise of a November 2020 incident where the fine levied for the ‘Transfer of petroleum products without GMA approval (48h)’ had increased fourfold from USD 60,000.00 to USD 240,000.00.
GMA FINES FOR MARINE POLLUTION VIOLATIONS
Fines are not limited to sewage violations. Budd Ghana and Africa Marine Services (Europe) Limited both report that the GMA also target violations of garbage (MARPOL Annex V) and oily water (MARPOL Annex I). Inspectors not only look for evidence of illegal discharge but also scrutinise the vessel’s records such as the oil record book and garbage record book.
It is understood that the fine amounts are non-negotiable, and the GMA will not accept any form of guarantee other than the aforementioned undertaking.
| Evidence of illegal dumping of waste | USD 36,000 |
| No oil record book | USD 7,000 |
| Failure to record in oil record book – per omission | USD 2,400 |
| Discharge of oil/oily mixture | USD 60,000 |
| Illegal discharge of sewage | USD 36,000 |
| No garbage record book | USD 6,000 |
| Failure to record in garbage record book – per omission | USD 2,400 |
| No garbage management plan | USD 6,000 |
| Evidence of illegal discharge of garbage | USD 24,000 |
| Bunkering without permit from GMA | USD 60,000 |
| Transfer of oil without notification (48 hours) in port | USD 14,400 |
| Transfer of oil without notification (48 hours) outside port | USD 60,000 |
Source: https://www.nepia.com/industry-news/ghana-tough-on-tackling-environmental-violations/