Testing the boundaries between the Basel and MARPOL regimes: are they complementary or mutually exclusive?

Incidents relating to unsafe management of wastes generated due to blending operations on board vessels have ignited an ongoing discussion between two competing legal regimes: the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (Basel Convention) and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships as modified by its 1978 Protocol (MARPOL). Despite that blending operations of bulk liquid cargoes during the sea voyage have been prohibited, unanswered questions remain regarding the potential applicability of the Basel Convention to ship-generated wastes while on board vessels and after their discharge at port reception facilities. This paper analyzes the relationship between the Basel Convention and MARPOL and the rationale for concluding that these regimes are indeed mutually exclusive.