The maritime industry had 18 months to adjust to Australia’s biofouling management rules, which ended in December 2023. Now, vessels visiting Australian waters are expected to fully comply with these regulations. Biofouling occurs when organisms attach and grow on the submerged parts of a vessel such as the hull, propellers and rudder.
As per Biosecurity Amendment Regulations 2021, Australian biosecurity offices will now inspect vessels’ biofouling management plans and record books. In particular, vessel operators can demonstrate proactive management of biofouling by implementing one of the three accepted proactive biofouling management options:
- Option 1: Implementation of an effective biofouling management plan and record book
- Option 2: Cleaned all biofouling within 30 days prior to arriving in Australian territory
- Option 3: Alternative biofouling management method pre-approved by the department
A vessel operator that cannot demonstrate proactive biofouling management practices using one of the three accepted management options will be required to provide additional information in their pre-arrival report.
…Australia Government states.
Furthermore, an effective Biofouling Management Plan (BFMP) must be vessel specific and should be included in the ships’ operational documentation. The BFMP must have sufficient detail for the crew to implement the specified biofouling management activities.
The Biofouling Record Book (BFRB) should contain a complete and up-to-date record of all biofouling management activities undertaken on the vessel and used in conjunction with the BFMP. It should be kept from the date the BFMP came into effect and retained for the life of the vessel. The BFRB may be electronic or in hard copy and available for inspection on request.
For the record, there are two ways in which ships transfer invasive species: One is biofouling (or hull fouling) which means they are transferred on ships’ hull and the other is ballast water, which means they are transferred through ships’ ballast tanks, an environmental issue that the IMO’s BWM Convention is aiming to address since it entered into force in 2017.
