I simply cannot close the year without making reference to the Ballast Water Convention. Wherever I have been and whomever I have met, at whatever time of the day or night, ballast water treatment always creeps into the conversation. It can no longer be avoided, it’s coming closer…
Significant difficulties remain unresolved for ship owners, including:
- lack of trust in the current type-approval process for the expensive new treatment equipment that ships will be required to install on board;
- uncertainty over sampling of ballast water for Port State Control inspections;
- how to deal with equipment which has already been fitted by ship owners in good faith, but which no longer complies; and
- no mechanism for dealing with ships trading between countries within the same body of water.
As a result, Flag States have not been ‘knocking the door down’ to ratify the Convention, which would tip the ratification over the magic 35% of world tonnage. However, that point is becoming remarkably close, standing at 32.54% at the time of writing.
IMO has not stood still on this issue. There has been some progression on phase-in and other changes in response to lobbying by ship owners’ representatives and some members. After all, once the Convention enters into force, it is the ship owners who will have to spend millions of dollars fitting ballast water treatment plants to both new and existing ships. There is now an agreement that existing ships will have until their MARPOL renewal date to install a treatment system. Rumours abound that some operators may juggle drydocking dates to bring forward special surveys and MARPOL renewal to reset the clock and buy time – happy days for dry dock operators. Also, there will be the usual question of availability of equipment for an entire global fleet, as well as many other issues surrounding selection and fitting of equipment. I sincerely empathise with owners facing these considerable challenges.
From our perspective, we will continue to advise our operators on timelines for implementation, however dates cannot be set in stone until the 35% mark is reached and then the clock will start ticking.
Wishing you all the best for the festive season and a very happy and prosperous New Year.
Dick Welsh
Director of Isle of Man Ship Registry
webiste IOM Ship Registry
Above article has been initially published in whereyoucan.com and has reproduced here with kind permission
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