New regulations to protect the marine environment will apply to all Irish-registered ships and ships in Irish waters from the new year, the Minister for the Marine, Dr Woods, has said.
Non-Irish vessels can be detained if necessary under the new measures, which will strengthen the State's existing laws on pollution by noxious substances and by oil and ships' waste, the Minister said.
The measures stipulate that packaging and stowage of harmful substances must be sufficient to minimise the potential hazards to the marine environment. Packages must in future be marked with the name of the substance, and it must be clearly identified as a potential pollutant.
Harmful substances must be properly bound, marked and certified, and vessels must also hold a special manifest for harmful substances - a copy of which must be kept ashore.
The regulations allow for port state control under the 1991 Sea Pollution Act and the 1973 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, commonly referred to as Marpol.
The existing penalties are £1,500 and/or six months' imprisonment on summary conviction, and £5,000 and/or two years' imprisonment on indictment.
The Minister said it was part of a series of initiatives he had undertaken to protect the Republic's marine resource.
