Pollution Prevention and Response SUB-COMMITTEE 13th SESSION (PPR 13) SUMMARY REPORT

The thirteenth session of IMO Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR 13) was held in person from the 9th to the 13th of February 2026, with hybrid facilities allowing remote participation.

PPR 13 agreed to submit the following to MEPC 84:

• the evaluation of revised carriage requirements for 12 existing entries in chapter 17 of the IBC Code and their consequential addition in List 1 of MEPC.2/Circ.32, with validity for all countries and with no expiry date, as well as a list of cleaning additives;
• draft amendments to MARPOL Annex I (new regulation 12B on oily bilge water holding tanks and oily bilge water service tanks, with amended appendices II and III as well as related draft 2026 Guidelines (for systems for handling oily wastes in machinery spaces) and draft revised Guidance for the recording of operations in the Oil Record Book Part I – machinery space operations;
• draft amendments to the NTC 2008 (inclusion of emissions from the combustion of alternative fuels);
• draft amendments to regulation 15 and appendix I of MARPOL Annex VI (installation of pressure-vacuum devices on tankers carrying crude oil);
• new unified interpretations of regulations 13.2.3 (time of replacement of an engine) and 16.9 of MARPOL Annex VI (continuous-feed type shipboard incinerator), as well as the draft revised unified interpretation of regulation 13.2.2 (application dates for major conversion using the criteria based on "three dates");
• draft 2026 Strategy and the Action Plan to Address Marine Plastic Litter from Ships;
• recommendation to develop a new code to be made mandatory through MARPOL Annex III and/or SOLAS, to reduce the environmental risks of plastic pellets transported by sea in freight containers.
   

PPR 13 only agreed on principle to a couple of amendments of MARPOL Annex IV and associated guidances related to Sewage Management Plan and Sewage Record Book: implementing provisions are still to be determined as regards existing ships.

PPR 13 instructed ESPH 32 and Correspondence groups to develop further:

• inclusion of ship location information during the discharge of tank washings and ballast water from cargo tanks in the format of the Cargo Record book (MARPOL annex II, appendix II);
• preparation of draft amendments to the IBC Code to be undertaken at ESPH 32 to address temperature monitoring for products requiring added inhibitors;
• the "polar fuel" concept with regard to MARPOL Annex VI regulating fuel oil quality, the prohibition of the carriage and use of HFO in the Arctic and Emission Control Areas;
• EGCS-related associated protective measure (APM) while submitting a PSSA proposal;
• regulatory approach for NOx emissions at low engine load & draft requirements for an onboard methodology determining continued operation in certified configuration;
• a stand-alone Convention on Biofouling with a goal-based method.