The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) establishes the territorial sea – the ocean directly under a country’s jurisdiction – as 12 nautical miles from shore. Ships greater than 400 gross tonnes cannot discharge untreated sewage within the territorial sea. Within the territorial sea and in Canada’s inland waters such as the Great Lakes, sewage discharges from ships must be treated using UV light, hypo-chlorination or biologic methods, before discharge. Ships must be travelling at 4 knots or faster when discharging untreated sewage more than 12 nautical miles from shore.⁽¹¹⁾ Sewage is passed through a screen to filter out non-organic waste.

The marine safety inspectors at Transport Canada who enforce the rules and regulations are experienced mariners. They are selected under Canadian law and undergo specialized training to enforce the entire maritime regime. Owing to the wide range of issues these regulations cover, inspectors need simple ways of determining if a ship is following the rules, such as knowing 15 ppm oil is a visible sheen on the water.

Navalrocha manages a wide variety of vessels including livestock carriers, polar expedition vessels, car-ferries, tugboats, cargo-carriers, cruise ships, military vessels, sailing vessels. In more recent years the yard has expanded into the LPG, LNG, product carrier and chemical carrier markets as well as seismic survey and ocean monitoring vessels.

AQUA Sonic offers a series of unique benefits. Firstly, our strategic location provides ideal ship repair and conversion conditions, with more than 300 days of sunshine every year. Being in the heart of ASIA we also have vibrant and cosmopolitan surroundings for crew to disembark. In addition, we can offer faster and more cost-effective solutions to ship companies looking to avoid the congested Strait. Meanwhile, our location is also particularly attractive to ships operating in South Asia coasts with a ready supply of spare parts providing a significant advantage over competitors.