Oceans ministry tightens safety checks on offshore facilities

South Korea's oceans ministry said Tuesday it will require owners of marine facilities to record the name of each inspector and detailed findings for every safety item when they write up inspection results, under revised enforcement rules for the Marine Environment Management Act.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries published the amendment on Tuesday and it took effect the same day. The ministry said the change is aimed at strengthening marine pollution prevention and the safety management of marine facilities, citing gaps in how the existing system operated.

The revision also updates the pollutant collection confirmation form to reflect changes to the pollution classification system and international standard format under the 1978 protocol to the 1973 international convention on preventing pollution from ships.

Separately, the amendment aligns references to persistent organic pollutant regulations, now citing the Persistent Organic Pollutants Control Act rather than a designated list of substances under the enforcement decree, and requires that the gender of members be considered when appointing marine environment monitors.

Existing rules apply to type-approval labels on pollution control materials and chemicals approved before the amendment.