Question 56 ONC02 - Second Mate/Third Mate Unlimited Tonnage

The Correct Answer is C **Explanation for Option C (Correct Answer):** Option C, "Discharge to a proper reception facility," is the only approved and legal method listed for disposing of waste oil collected from fueling operations (or any other machinery space operations) on a vessel. International regulations, primarily MARPOL (The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships), strictly prohibit the discharge of oil or oily mixtures into the sea, except under very specific, controlled conditions (which generally do not apply to bulk waste oil collected in drip pans). A proper reception facility is a shore-based service or port facility equipped to safely and legally handle, recycle, or dispose of oil waste according to environmental regulations. **Explanation for Incorrect Options:** * **A) Mixing it with dispersants before draining it overboard:** This is strictly prohibited. While dispersants break up oil, discharging any oil (even treated oil) overboard violates MARPOL regulations concerning pollution prevention. Dispersants do not eliminate the oil; they just spread it out, making cleanup more difficult and causing environmental harm. * **B) Adding sinking agents and discharging it into the water:** This is illegal and highly destructive to the marine environment. Sinking agents are used specifically to make the oil sink to the seabed, which smothers benthic (bottom-dwelling) life and prevents the oil from being naturally biodegraded or skimmed from the surface. * **D) Draining it overboard when the vessel gets underway:** This is illegal. Discharging waste oil directly into the sea from a vessel is the core pollution activity that MARPOL and national regulations are designed to prevent. It constitutes direct, deliberate oil pollution.