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Off ost 23 magic pipe
A magic pipe is a surreptitious change to a ship's oily water separator, or other waste-handing equipment, which allows waste liquids to be discharged in contravention of maritime pollution regulations.
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The pipe may be improvised, aboard ship, from available hoses and pumps, to discharge untreated waste water directly into the sea. As ships are often required to keep records of waste and its treatment, magic pipe cases often involve falsification of these records too.
In the United States, magic pipe cases often attract large fines for shipping lines, and prison sentences for crew. Cases are often brought to light by whistle blowers, including a 2016 case involving Princess Cruise Lines which resulted in a record US $40 million fine.
The problem is worsened by a lack of facilities in developing countries; some port reception facilities do not allow for oily water to be discharged easily and cost effectively.
The pipe is known as magic because it bypasses the ship's oily water separator and goes right overboard. Therefore it can make untreated bilge water magically disappear.
Often the pipe can be easily disconnected and stored away into a different spot of the ship so state and regulatory officers would not be able to detect its usage. The use of magic pipes continues to this day, and efforts to improve bilge water treatment to make the use of magic pipes unnecessary also continue.
Crew members, engineers, and ship owners can receive huge fines and even imprisonment if they continue to use a magic pipe to pollute the environment.
However, many engineers still use the magic pipe because of lack of shore side assistance with regard to bilge water treatment, lack of training or simple individual disregard of the ocean environment.
On older OWS systems bypass pipes were fitted with regulatory approval. These approved pipes are no longer fitted on newer vessels. In serious emergencies ship's crews are allowed to discharge untreated bilge water overboard, but need to declare those emergencies in the ship's records and oil record book.