To whom it may concern
The requirements for MARPOL 73/78 Annex VI to come into force were fulfilled on 18 May 2004. Hence, the Annex will come into force on 19 May 2005. Regulation 16 of Annex VI of MARPOL 73/78 states that shipboard incinerators installed onboard ships on or after 1 January 2000 must be approved by the Administration taking into account the technical standard specifications stipulated in IMO Resolution MEPC 76(40).
Tentative interpretations of these requirements by the Society are given below for your information.

1. Interpretation of date of installation of incinerator
With respect to all ships other than Japanese flagged vessels, NK interprets "each incinerator installed onboard a ship on or after 1 January 2000" as follows, based on the interpretation by IACS, unless otherwise instructed by a special notice issued by the flag Administration of the ship concerned. Notification will be provided separately regarding the interpretation of the date of installation for Japanese flagged vessels once it has been finalized by the Japanese government.

(1) For new ships:
Incinerators installed onboard ships the keels of which are laid on or after 1 January 2000.

(2) For existing ships:
New incinerators with a contractual delivery date to the ship of on or after 1 January 2000 (Note: in the absence of a contractual delivery date, the actual delivery of the incinerator to the ship on or after 1 January 2000).

2. Maximum shock-cooled flue gas temperature of shipboard incinerators

(1) With regard to all ships other than Japanese flagged vessels, the installation of incinerators that comply with the standard for the shock-cooling of flue gas to a maximum temperature of 350°C may be accepted, based on the results of discussions at the IMO.

(2) However, incinerators installed onboard Japanese flagged vessels are required to be capable of shock-cooling the flue gas to a maximum temperature of 200°C.

(To be continued)