Rasmus Folsø, CEO, DEMSI Ocean Guard A/S says that the biggest challenge within ballast water management in 2017 will be the lack of harmonization between US Coast Guard and IMO requirements for type approval of ballast water treatment system and calls the industry to set this issue as a priority for the forthcoming year.
GREEN4SEA: Do you think there was a significant success and/or progress made with respect to marine environment protection during 2016?
Rasmus Folsø: Yes, I think significant progress have been made, especially in IMO through the ratification of the Ballast Water Management Convention and the agreement of a date for the entry into force of the global Sulphur limitation. That said, more progress on a global regulation on greenhouse gas emissions from ships should have been made.
G4S: Focusing on your area of expertise, what were the most important industry developments within 2016?
R.F.: From my perspective the most important industry development within 2016 was the long awaited ratification of IMO’s Ballast Water Management Convention. The convention was adopted in 2004, but since then the lacking ratification have left the entire shipping industry with lots of uncertainties about when to plan for compliance. With the ratification we now know the date of entry into force of the convention, and we can all start planning accordingly.
G4S: Focusing on your area of expertise, what do you think that it will be the biggest marine environmental challenge(s) for the industry for the 2017?
R.F.: Without doubt the biggest challenge within ballast water management in 2017 will be the lack of harmonization between US Coast Guard and IMO requirements for type approval of ballast water treatment system. In particular this lack of harmonization have led to a situation where UV based ballast water treatment systems type approved according to IMO requirements cannot be type approved according to USCG requirements. This issue needs to be resolved in order to have globally harmonized rules for a global business, which shipping is.
The views presented hereabove are only those of the author and not necessarily those of GREEN4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.
