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• 2022-06-14
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Following the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the IMO initiated negotiations to consider the possibilities of developing an internationally binding instrument to address the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens in ships’ ballast water. From 1999 onwards, the Ballast Water Working Group, established by the MEPC in 1994, focused on the preparation of a free-standing Convention on control and management of ships’ ballast water and sediments.

The introduction of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens to new environments had been identified as one of the four greatest threats to the world’s oceans (the other three being land-sourced marine pollution, overexploitation of living marine resources and destruction of habitat) and in 2002 the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg called for action at all levels to accelerate the development of measures to address invasive aquatic species in ballast water.

Proper control and management of ships’ ballast water became a major environmental challenge for IMO and the global shipping industry. At its eighty-ninth session in November2002, the Council approved the convening of the Diplomatic Conference in early 2004. The decision of the Council was endorsed by the twenty-third session of the Assembly in December 2003 and the International Conference on Ballast Water Management for Ships’ was held at IMO’sHeadquarters in London from 9 to 13 February 2004. The Conference adopted the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (the Ballast Water Management Convention), together with four conference resolutions.

Summary of BWM Convention

These guidelines apply to ships as stipulated in article 3 of the BWM Convention, as mentioned below:

Except as expressly provided otherwise in the Convention, this Convention shall apply to:

1. ships entitled to fly the flag of a Party; and
2. ships not entitled to fly the flag of a Party but which operate under the authority of a Party.

This Convention shall not apply to:

1. ships not designed or constructed to carry Ballast Water;
2. ships of a Party which only operate in waters under the jurisdiction of that Party, unless the Party determines that the discharge of Ballast Water from such ships would impair or damage their environment, human health, property or resources, or those of adjacent or other States;
3. ships of a Party which only operate in waters under the jurisdiction of another Party, subject to the authorization of the latter Party for such exclusion. No Party shall grant such authorization if doing so would impair or damage their environment, human health, property or resources, or those of adjacent or other States. Any Party not granting such authorization shall notify the Administration of the ship concerned that this Convention applies to such ship;
4. ships which only operate in waters under the jurisdiction of one Party and on the high seas, except for ships not granted an authorization pursuant to sub-paragraph (c), unless such Party determines that the discharge of Ballast Water from such ships would impair or damage their environment, human health, property or resources, or those of adjacent of other States;
5. any warship, naval auxiliary or other ship owned or operated by a State and used, for the time being, only on government non-commercial service. However, each Party shall ensure, by the adoption of appropriate measures not impairing operations or operational capabilities of such ships owned or operated by it, that such ships act in a manner consistent, so far as is reasonable and practicable, with this Convention; and
6. permanent Ballast Water in sealed tanks on ships, that is not subject to discharge.

Summary of BWM Convention

The regulations of the BWM Convention contain the following compliance provisions:

1. Except where expressly provided otherwise, the discharge of Ballast Water shall only be conducted through Ballast Water Management in accordance with the provisions of the BWM convention. (regulation A-2);
2. an IBWMC (Ballast Water Management Certificate) is required for all ships of 400 GT or above, excluding floating platforms, FSUs and FPSOs, as identified in regulation E-2;
3. a ship is required to have on board and implement a BWMP approved by the Administration; (regulation B-1);
   The Ballast Water Management plan shall be specific to each ship and shall at least:
   
   1. detail safety procedures for the ship and the crew associated with Ballast Water Management as required by this Convention;
   2. provide a detailed description of the actions to be taken to implement the Ballast Water Management requirements and supplemental Ballast Water Management practices as set forth in this Convention;
   3. detail the procedures for the disposal of Sediments:
      1. at sea; and
      2. to shore;
   4. include the procedures for coordinating shipboard Ballast Water Management that involves discharge to the sea with the authorities of the State into whose waters such discharge will take place;
   5. designate the officer on board in charge of ensuring that the plan is properly implemented;
   6. contain the reporting requirements for ships provided for under this Convention; and
   7. be written in the working language of the ship. If the language used is not English, French or Spanish, a translation into one of these languages shall be included.
4. a ship is required to have on board and maintain a BWRB (Ballast Water Record Book) that may be an electronic record system, or that may be integrated into another record book or system and, which shall at least contain the information specified in appendix II of the BWM Convention, for a minimum period of two years after the last entry has been made, thereafter in the Company's control for a minimum period of three years (regulation B-2);
   The Ballast Water record book shall be kept readily available for inspection at all reasonable times and, in the case of an unmanned ship under tow, may be kept on the towing ship.
   Each operation concerning Ballast Water shall be fully recorded without delay in the Ballast Water record book. Each entry shall be signed by the officer in charge of the operation concerned and each completed page shall be signed by the master. The entries in the Ballast Water record book shall be in a working language of the ship. If that language is not English, French or Spanish the entries shall contain a translation into one of those languages. When entries in an official national language of the State whose flag the ship is entitled to fly are also used, these shall prevail in case of a dispute or discrepancy.
   Officers duly authorized by a Party may inspect the Ballast Water record book on board any ship to which this regulation applies while the ship is in its port or offshore terminal, and may make a copy of any entry, and require the master to certify that the copy is a true copy. Any copy so certified shall be admissible in any judicial proceeding as evidence of the facts stated in the entry. The inspection of a Ballast Water record book and the taking of a certified copy shall be performed as expeditiously as possible without causing the ship to be unduly delayed. In the event of the discharge of Ballast Water pursuant to regulations A-3, A-4 or B-3.6 [The requirements of this regulation do not apply to ships that discharge ballast water to a reception facility designed taking into account the Guidelines developed by the Organization for such facilities.] or in the event of other accidental or exceptional discharge of Ballast Water not otherwise exempted by this Convention, an entry shall be made in the Ballast Water record book describing the circumstances of, and the reason for, the discharge.

Regulation A-3 Exceptions

The requirements of regulation B-3, or any measures adopted by a Party pursuant to Article 2.3 and Section C, shall not apply to:

1. the uptake or discharge of Ballast Water and Sediments necessary for the purpose of ensuring the safety of a ship in emergency situations or saving life at sea; or
2. the accidental discharge or ingress of Ballast Water and Sediments resulting from damage to a ship or its equipment
   1. provided that all reasonable precautions have been taken before and after the occurrence of the damage or discovery of the damage or discharge for the purpose of preventing or minimizing the discharge; and
   2. unless the owner, Company or officer in charge willfully or recklessly caused damage; or
3. the uptake and discharge of Ballast Water and Sediments when being used for the purpose of avoiding or minimizing pollution incidents from the ship; or
4. the uptake and subsequent discharge on the high seas of the same Ballast Water and Sediments; or
5. the discharge of Ballast Water and Sediments from a ship at the same location where the whole of that Ballast Water and those Sediments originated and provided that no mixing with unmanaged Ballast Water and Sediments from other areas has occurred. If mixing has occurred, the Ballast Water taken from other areas is subject to Ballast Water Management in accordance with this Annex.

Regulation A-4 Exemptions

1. A Party or Parties, in waters under their jurisdiction, may grant exemptions to any requirements to apply regulations B-3 or C-1, in addition to those exemptions contained elsewhere in this Convention, but only when they are:
   1. granted to a ship or ships on a voyage or voyages between specified ports or locations; or to a ship which operates exclusively between specified ports or locations;
   2. effective for a period of no more than five years subject to intermediate review;
   3. granted to ships that do not mix Ballast Water or Sediments other than between the ports or locations specified in paragraph 1.1; and
   4. granted based on the Guidelines on risk assessment developed by the Organization.
2. Exemptions granted pursuant to paragraph 1 shall not be effective until after communication to the Organization and circulation of relevant information to the Parties.
3. Any exemptions granted under this regulation shall not impair or damage the environment, human health, property or resources of adjacent or other States. Any State that the Party determines may be adversely affected shall be consulted, with a view to resolving any identified concerns.
4. Any exemptions granted under this regulation shall be recorded in the Ballast Water record book.
5. a ship is required to meet either the ballast water exchange standard (regulation D-1) or ballast water performance standard (regulation D-2) in accordance with regulation B-3. The PSCO, however, should only enforce this in accordance with the schedule in resolution A.1088(28);
6. ballast water exchange is conducted
   1. at least 200 NM from the nearest land and in water at least 200 m in depth, or
   2. in cases where the ship is unable, at least 50 NM from the nearest land and in water at least 200 m in depth, or
   3. in a designated ballast water exchange area and is required to be conducted in accordance with regulation B-4;

A ship conducting Ballast Water exchange shall not be required to comply with above paragraph, as appropriate, if the master reasonably decides that such exchange would threaten the safety or stability of the ship, its crew, or its passengers because of adverse weather, ship design or stress, equipment failure, or any other extraordinary condition.

When a ship is required to conduct Ballast Water exchange and does not do so in accordance with this regulation, the reasons shall be entered in the Ballast Water record book.

7. sediment is removed and disposed from spaces designated to carry ballast water in accordance with the provisions of the ship's BWMP; (Regulation B-5)
   Please see “GUIDELINES ON DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION TO FACILITATE SEDIMENT CONTROL ON SHIPS (G12)”

New ships should be designed and constructed with a view to minimize the uptake and undesirable entrapment of sediments, facilitate removal of sediments, and provide safe access to allow for sediment removal and sampling, taking into account guidelines developed by IMO.

8. officers and crew shall be familiar with their duties in the implementation of ballast water management particular to the ship and ship's BWMP (regulation B-6);

9. any exemptions from the BWM Convention shall be recorded in the BWRB (regulation A-4.4) as well as records of any accidental and exceptional discharges (regulation B-2.3) and instances where ballast water was not exchanged in accordance with the BWM Convention (regulation B-4.5);

10. a ship is required to report accidents or defects that affect its ability to manage ballast water to the flag State and the port State (regulation E-1.7);
    Whenever an accident occurs to a ship or a defect is discovered which substantially affects the ability of the ship to conduct Ballast Water Management in accordance with this Convention, the owner, operator or other person in charge of the ship shall report at the earliest opportunity to the Administration, the recognized organization or the nominated surveyor responsible for issuing the relevant Certificate, who shall cause investigations to be initiated to determine whether a survey as required by Regulation E-1, is necessary.
    1. Initial Survey
    2. Renewal Survey
    3. Intermediate Survey
    4. Annual Survey
    5. Additional Survey

If the ship is in a port of another Party, the owner, operator or other person in charge shall also report immediately to the appropriate authorities of the port State and the nominated surveyor or recognized organization shall ascertain that such report has been made.

11. the condition of a ship, and its equipment, systems and processes shall be maintained to conform with the BWM Convention (regulation E-1.9); and
12. after any survey of a ship under regulation E-1.1 has been completed, no change shall be made in the structure, equipment, fittings, arrangements or material associated with the BWMP and covered by the survey without the sanction of the Administration, except the direct replacement of such equipment or fitting (regulation E-1.10).

SECTION D - STANDARDS FOR BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT

Regulation D-1 Ballast Water Exchange Standard

1. Ships performing Ballast Water exchange in accordance with this regulation shall do so with an efficiency of at least 95 percent volumetric exchange of Ballast Water.
2. For ships exchanging Ballast Water by the pumping-through method, pumping through three times the volume of each Ballast Water tank shall be considered to meet the standard described in paragraph 1. Pumping through less than three times the volume may be accepted provided the ship can demonstrate that at least 95 percent volumetric exchange is met.

Regulation D-2 Ballast Water Performance Standard

1. Ships conducting Ballast Water Management in accordance with this regulation shall discharge
   1. less than 10 viable organisms per cubic meter greater than or equal to 50 micrometers in minimum dimension and
   2. less than 10 viable organisms per milliliter less than 50 micrometers in minimum dimension and greater than or equal to 10 micrometers in minimum dimension; and
   3. discharge of the indicator microbes shall not exceed the specified concentrations described in paragraph 2.

2. Indicator microbes, as a human health standard, shall include:
   1. Toxicogenic Vibrio cholera (O1 and O139) with less than 1 colony forming unit (cfu) per 100 milliliters or less than 1 cfu per 1 gram (wet weight) zooplankton samples;
   2. Escherichia coli less than 250 cfu per 100 milliliters;
   3. Intestinal Enterococci less than 100 cfu per 100 milliliters.
   

   Toxicogenic Vibrio cholera (O1 and O139)

   

   Escherichia coli

   

   Intestinal Enterococci

Regulation D-4 Prototype Ballast Water Treatment Technologies

For any ship that, prior to the date that the standard in regulation D-2 would otherwise become effective for it, participates in a program approved by the Administration to test and evaluate promising Ballast Water treatment technologies, the standard in regulation D-2 shall not apply to that ship until five years from the date on which the ship would otherwise be required to comply with such standard.

For any ship that, after the date on which the standard in regulation D-2 has become effective for it, participates in a program approved by the Administration, taking into account Guidelines developed by the Organization, to test and evaluate promising Ballast Water technologies with the potential to result in treatment technologies achieving a standard higher than that in regulation D-2, the standard in regulation D-2 shall cease to apply to that ship for five years from the date of installation of such technology.

In establishing and carrying out any program to test and evaluate promising Ballast Water technologies, Parties shall:

1. take into account Guidelines developed by the Organization, and
2. allow participation only by the minimum number of ships necessary to effectively test such technologies.
3. Throughout the test and evaluation period, the treatment system must be operated consistently and as designed.