Exam Question

The Oil Monitoring System is a critical piece of equipment mandated by MARPOL Annex I for all oil tankers (over 150 GT) and ships (over 400 GT, for bilge discharges) to prevent marine pollution by ensuring that discharged oily mixtures meet strict international standards. It continuously monitors, records, and controls the discharge of oily water from bilge spaces or segregated ballast tanks (for tankers). The system ensures that the instantaneous rate of discharge of oil does not exceed 30 litres per nautical mile and that the total quantity of oil discharged into the sea does not exceed 1/30,000 of the total quantity of the particular cargo of which the residue formed a part (for tankers). For machinery space bilges, the oil content must not exceed 15 ppm.
**(a) Describe with the aid of a sketch, the general arrangements of an oil monitoring system (6 marks)**
The general arrangement of an oil monitoring system (often referred to as an Oil Content Meter or OCM for bilge discharges, and Oil Discharge Monitoring Equipment or ODME for tanker ballast discharges) involves several interconnected components designed to sample, analyze, record, and control the discharge of oily water.
**1. Sampling System:**