Article 16 Amendments

（1） The present Convention may be amended by any of the proceduresspecified in the following paragraphs.

（2） Amendments after consideration by the Organization：

（a） any amendment proposed by a Party to the Convention shall besubmitted to the Organization and circulated by its Secretary-General toall Members of the Organization and all Parties at least six months priorto its consideration；

（b） any amendment proposed and circulated as above shall besubmitted to an appropriate body by the Organization for consideration；

（c） Parties to the Convention， whether or not Members of theOrganization， shall be entitled to participate in the proceedings of theappropriate body；

（d） amendments shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority of onlythe Parties to the Convention present voting；

（e） if adopted in accordance with sub-paragraph （d） above，amendments shall be communicated by the Secretary-General of theOrganization to all the Parties to the Convention for acceptance；

（f） an amendment shall be deemed to have been accepted in thefollowing circumstances：

（i） an amendment to an Article of the Convention shall bedeemed to have been accepted on the date on which it is accepted bytwo-thirds of the Parties， the combined merchant fleets of whichconstitute not less than fifty per cent of the gross tonnage of theworld's merchant fleet；

（ii） an amendment to an Annex to the Convention shall bedeemed to have been accepted in accordance with the procedure specified insub-paragraph （f） （iii） unless the appropriate body， at the time of itsadoption， determines that the amendment shall be deemed to have beenaccepted on the date on which it is accepted by two-thirds of the Parties，the combined merchant fleets of which constitute not less than fifty percent of the gross tonnage of the world's merchant fleet， Nevertheless， atany time before the entry into force of an amendment to an Annex to theConvention， a Party may notify the Secretary-General of the Organizationthat its express approval will be necessary before the amendment entersinto force for it. The latter shall bring such notification and the dateof its receipt to the notice of Parties；

（iii） an amendement to an Appendix to an Annex to theConvention shall be deemed to have been accepted at the end of a period tobe determined by the appropriate body at the time of its adoption. whichperiod shall be not less than ten months， unless within that period anobjection is communicated to the Organization by not less than one-thirdof the Parties or by the Parties the combined merchant fleets of whichconstitute not less than fifty per cent of the gross tonnage of theworld's merchant fleet whichever condition is fulfilled；

（iv） an amendment to Protocol I to the Convention shall besubject to the same procedures as for the amendments to the Annexes to theConvention， as provided for in sub-paragraphs （f） （ii） or （f） （iii） above；

（v） an amendment to Protocol II to the Convention shall besubject to the same procedures as for the amendments to an Article of theConvention， as provided for in sub-paragraph （f） （i） above；

（g） the amendment shall enter into force under the followingconditions：

（i） in the case of an amendment to an Article of theConvention， to Protocol II. or to Protocol I or to an Annex to theConvention not under the procedure specified in sub-paragraph （f） （iii），the amendment accepted in conformity with the foregoing provisions shallenter into force six months after the date of its acceptance with respectto the Parties which have declared that they have accepted it；

（ii） in the case of an amendment to Protocol I， to an Appendixto an Annex or an Annex to the Convention under the procedure specified insub-paragraph （f） （iii）， the amendment deemed to have been accepted inaccordance with the foregoing conditions shall enter into force six monthsafter its acceptance for all the Parties with the exception of thosewhich， before that date， have made a declaration that they do not acceptit or a declaration under sub-paragraph （f） （ii）， that their expressapproval is necessary.

（3） Amendment by a Conference：

（a） Upon the request of a Party， concurred in by at leastone-third of the Parties， the Organization shall convene a Conference ofParties to the Convention to consider amendments to the presentConvention.

（b） Every amendment adopted by such a Conference by a two-thirdsmajority of those present and voting of the Parties shall be communicatedby the Secretary-General of the Organization to all Contracting Partiesfor their acceptance.

（c） Unless the Conference decides otherwise， the amendment shallbe deemed to have been accepted and to have entered into force inaccordance with the procedures specified for that purpose in paragraph （2）（f） and （g） above.

（4） （a） In the case of an Amendment to an Optional Annex， a referencein the present Article to a “Party to the Convention” shall be deemed tomean a reference to a Party bound by that Annex.

（b） Any Party which has declined to accept an amendment to anAnnex shall be treated as a non-Party only for the purpose of applicationof that Amendment.

（5） The adoption and entry into force of a new Annex shall be subjectto the same procedures as for the adoption and entry into force of anamendment to an Article of the Convention.

（6） Unless expressly provided otherwise， any amendment to the presentConvention made under this Article， which relates to the structure of aship， shall apply only to ships for which the building contract is placed，or in the absence of a building contract， the keel of which is laid， on orafter the date on which the amendment comes into force.

（7） Any amendment to a Protocol or to an Annex shall relate to thesubstance of that Protocol or Annex and shall be consistent with theArticles of the present Convention.

（8） The Secretary-General of the Organization shall inform all Partiesof any amendments which enter into force under the present Article，together with the date on which each such amendment enters into force.

（9） Any declaration of acceptance or of objection to an amendmentunder the present Article shall be notified in writing to theSecretary-General of the Organization. The latter shall bring suchnotification and the date of its receipt to the notice of the Parities tothe Convention.

Article 17 Promotion of Technical Co-operation

The Parties to the Convention shall promote， in consultation with theOrganization and other international bodies， with assistance andco-ordination by the Executive Director of the United Nations EnvironmentProgramme， support for those Parties which request technical assistancefor：

（a） the training of scientific and technical personnel；

（b） the supply of necessary equipment and facilities for receptionand monitoring；

（c） the facilitation of other measures and arrangements to preventor mitigate pollution of the marine environment by ships； and

（d） the encouragement of research；

Preferably within the countries concerned， so furthering the aims andpurpose of the present Convention.

Article 18 Denunciation

（1） The present Convention or any Optional Annex may be denounced byany Parties to the Convention at any time after the expiry of five yearsfrom the date on which the Convention or such Annex enters into force forthat Party.

（2） Denunciation shall be effected by notification in writing to theSecretary General of the Organization who shall inform all the otherParties of any such notification received and of the date of its receiptas well as the date on which such denunciation takes effect.

（3） A denunciation shall take effect twelve months after receipt ofthe notification of denunciation by the Secretary-General of theOrganization or after the expiry of any other longer period which may beindicated in the notification.

Article 19 Deposit and Registration

（1） The present Convention shall be deposited with theSecretary-General of the Organization who shall transmit certified truecopies thereof to all States which have signed the present Convention oracceded to it.

（2） As soon as the present Convention enters into force， the textshall be transmitted by the Secretary-General of the Organization to theSecretary-General of the United Nations for registration and publication，in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.

Article 20 Languages

The present Convention is established in a single copy in the English，French， Russian and Spanish languages， each text being equally authentic.Official translations in the Arabic， German， Italian and Japaneselanguages shall be prepared and deposited with the signed original.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned being duly authorized by theirrespective Governments for that purpose have signed the presentConvention.

[ Signatures omitted]

DONE AT LONDON this second day of November， one thousand nine hundredand seventy-three.