2016 GREEN4SEA Ballast Water Forum – Overview

GREEN4SEA is pleased to announce the successful completion of the 2016 GREEN4SEA Ballast Water Forum which took place on Thursday, December 15^th, 2016 in Eugenides Foundation, Athens attracting more than 450 delegates representing a number of 225 organizations. 

A unique panel of 12 experts presented latest developments surrounding the Ballast Water Management Convention following MEPC70 and discussed how industry may be prepared for the implementation due on September 2017. The event organized by GREEN4SEA and sponsored by ABS, Alfa Laval, ARGO NAVIS Marine Consulting and Engineering, Coldharbour Marine, GREEN4SEA, ERMA FIRST ESK Engineering Solutions, Evoqua Water Technologies, International Registries (IRI), SAFETY4SEA, SMART4SEA, SQEACADEMY and SQEMARINE.

During his welcome address Apostolos Belokas, Founder & Managing Editor of GREEN4SEA, as the Event Facilitator, outlined theobjectives of the forum, including enhancing ballast water awareness and helping shipowners/ operators to take the right decisions now that the time has come for BWTS installations on board.

Presentations were given in three panels as follows:

Panel 1 : Stakeholder Views

Apostolos Belokas, Managing Editor, GREEN4SEA, opened the conference outlining the agenda from latest Policy development views and challenges for the market stakeholders to providing advice and guidance to the remaining of the industry along with future wish list to make BWMC to work. He highlighted that despite 5,000 BWTS installed very limited feedback has been surfaced and urged all involved parties to start the dialogue and share their views for the greater good of the industry and the environment in general.

Peter Lundahl Rasmussen, Head of Maritime Information, BIMCO, discussed about the impact that MEPC 70 decisions on BWMC may have on ship operations and advised owners, if needed, to explore possibilities for delaying their ships compliance date. Concluding his presentation, he expressed his aspirations for the future for a final IMO agreement on D-2 implementation date, more USCG type approvals, contingency plans in place in case of ships with noncompliant water for port and terminals, appropriate amendments of the Convention, BWM disposal for ports and terminals in case of BWMS malfunction or noncompliant water and also adequate reception facilities for sediments in ports.

Mouawad Consulting, Director, Mouawad Consulting AS, gave advice to ship owners on how to tackle the complicated regulatory landscape surrounding the implementation of the BWMC. He addresses major challenges and explained that IMO latest developments with regards to the implementation dates, new G8 type approval guidelines adopted with deadlines for its implementation, the USCG issuing a type approval certificate lacking basic information on the system, and the EPA´s intention to release a new version of the VGP, all collectively put the maritime industry in a large uncertainty to when ships ought to retrofit those systems and which systems ensure compliance with the regulations worldwide.

Andreas Zontanos, Director, Argo Navis, tried to answer to the most common question regarding the BWTS retrofit; how much it will cost. He said that the budget of retrofitting a BWTS (both equipment price and installation cost) is not easy to estimate. Actually, he explained, it is impossible before at least the preliminary approach and plan are available to the decision makers. Even after that, experience is required for final budgeting and experience is presently very scarcely available. During his presentation, he shared a recent case study of sister vessels’ retrofitting to exhibit the factors which affect the cost and the significant benefits and direct savings which experience brings.

Panel 2 : Stakeholder Views

Stamatis Fradelos, Principal Engineer, ABS Operational & Environmental Performance (OEP), provided insight into the current landscape following MEPC 70. He said that recent decisions at the IMO have delayed agreement to a single implementation scheme for complying with the D-2 biological standard until the next MEPC 71 meeting which is scheduled for July 2017. Meanwhile, the USCG has issued its first type approval for a ballast water management system that satisfies US standards. Taking into account the ongoing complexities between IMO and USCG requirements, he advised owners and operators to consider both regulatory schemes as they develop their compliance plans and make decisions about their fleets.

Thanos Theocharis, Regulatory Affairs European Liaison, International Registries Inc., discussed about issues related to IOPP Renewal Survey from Flag perspective. He said that no special authorization from the RMI Maritime Administrator is required to carry out an early IOPP renewal survey or to issue the new certificate. Furthermore, he said, RMI recommends that the IOPP renewal survey is recoupled with the other statutory surveys as soon as is appropriate, although it should be anticipated that possible further amendments to the BWM Convention and/or other national requirements might alter the timing of recoupling.

Stelios N. Mavrelos, Technical Director, Capital Ship Management Corp., gave a presentation on the implementation of BWM Convention from the ship manager’s perspective. He addressed briefly the current BWM regulatory regime and expressed considerations as whether the shipping industry as a whole is ready to implement the Convention. He finally presented the different options available for ship management and appropriate steps for the effective implementation of the BWM Convention on September 2017.

William H. Moore, Senior Vice President of Loss Prevention, The American P&I Club, presented the Club Perspective towards BWMC implementation. He addressed the biggest challenges for compliance with global ballast water management regulations and shared potential P&I considerations including fines & penalties, malfunction or inability to use BWTS and risks to ship’s strength and stability due to ballast water movements. He suggested BWTS vendors to strive to meet USCG standards in conjunction to the new unified IMO G8 standards and highlighted the critical role that service providers will have to play.

 
Panel 3 : Maker’s views

Håkan Persson, Regional Business Manager PureBallast, Alfa Laval, explained the challenges in BWM Convention implementation from maker’s perspective. His said that his company is gaining continuous experience in BWT for the last 15 years and their BWTS , tested and approved in all three water qualities, is expected to be USCG approved. Lessons learned so far have unveiled that it is essential for BWTS, makers to invest time in the project; identify the needs of their fleet, assure availability of spare parts, technical support and advise for the life time of the system and look closely at the Total Cost of ownership (Installation cost, Life Cycle Cost, Operational cost, and cost for non-compliance).

Dimitrios Tsoulos, Regional Sales Manager, Evoqua Water Technologies, gave a presentation into the additional value and return on investment that a BWMS can provide through optional dual purpose function as a marine growth prevention system and also unique features that helps to keep the filter at peak operation in some of the most turbid ports around the world. Based on real life experience, he explained how Evoqua has been able to prolonged filter screen life from 5 to 10 years or more with reduced clogging risk utilizing a patented trickle method within a BWMS. The patented ORP control logic of the system was also addressed. He also referred to their BWMS which uses a combination of filtration followed by in-situ production of biocide from seawater via electrochlorination. The system is currently in the final phases of testing for USCG Type Approval under NSF International in the USA, he said.

Konstantinos Stampedakis, Managing Director of ERMA First ESK Engineering, shared his views on the latest policy developments surrounding BWMC. He noted that with the revised IMO G8 guidelines in place but without any clear BWTS installation implementation dates, stakeholders should start interacting. Furthermore, open discussion between regulators, users, BWTS vendors, FSAs and Classes is imperative. Incentives to the vessels equipped with a BWTS to operate their BWTS will promote the knowledge, through data collection, operation and troubleshooting experience. He said that there is need for crew familiarization with BWM procedures and BWTS optimization in order the industry to get ready for smooth installation and BWTS easy to operate and maintain.  Till then we will keep carrying stowaways in vessels ballast water tanks, he stated.

Andrew Marshall, CEO Coldharbour Marine Ltd., gave his advice on how to make the choice for the right BWTS having in mind the revised G8 Guidelines and all latest developments which create confusion and uncertainty to owners. He said that the current regulatory landscape and the growing number of worrying issues concerning the effective implementation of the BWMC suggest that things might not be quite as simple as industry first thought.

All sessions ended with a round table discussion and exchange with the audience.

Concluding the 2016 GREEN4SEA Ballast Water Forum Mr Apostolos Belokas, Event Facilitator, thanked all delegates for their participation, the sponsors for their support and the speakers for their excellent presentations and also the organizing team of the event for their contribution towards forum objectives.