In regard to the difficulties found in conducting a safe and efficient ballast water exchange in the waters between China and South Korea, the two countries have agreed on exemption of ballast water exchange requirements for international ships sailing between these two regions.
The 74th session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 74) took place on 13-17 May at IMO headquarters in London, with key environmental subjects on its agenda, aimed at supporting the IMO strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships and the implementation of 2020 sulphur cap among others.
The Belgian Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport, which is responsible for shipping, has selected Chelsea Technologies to provide benchmark portable testing for compliance with ballast water standards. This move comes after Belgium decided to start testing vessels calling at its ports and terminals to make sure they can demonstrate compliance with the IMO’s Ballast Water Management Convention.
Rising global maritime traffic could lead to sharp increases in invasive species around the world over the next 30 years, according to a recent study by McGill University researchers. The findings suggest that shipping growth will far outweigh climate change in the spread of non-indigenous pests.
The 2019 GREEN4SEA Conference successfully concluded on Wednesday 13th of March, at the Lighthouse at Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), attracting 750 delegates from a total of 350 organizations.
Guyana ratified two key IMO measures aimed to preserve bio-diversity: the Ballast Water Management Convention and another on use of harmful anti-fouling systems on ships hulls. It also ratified others regarding unlawful acts against the safety of navigation and removing wrecks from the seabed. In addition, it signed four instruments covering liability and compensation.
Mr. Mark Riggio, President, BEMA, refers to the objectives of this new association; as a key priority, the Ballastwater Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (BEMA) aims to harmonize differences between manufacturers and ship owners and provide a unified voice and technical support to facilitate compliance.
Wärtsilä’s Aquarius UV Ballast Water Management System is on demand by global shipping operators. The system will enable the vessels to be in line with the Ballast Water Management Convention regulations that entered into force in September 2017, concerning all new-builds vessels. The company’s BWTS has been presented with 13 systems, the orders for which were all booked in quarter four 2018.
2019 kicked off with the data collection on fuel oil consumption, alternative mechanisms to comply with the 2020 Sulphur cap, the EU Ship Recycling Regulation, the IMSBC Code 2017 amendment as well as amendments designating North Sea and Baltic Sea as ECAs. With many more regulations and developments still yet to come, nations from all across the globe, ship operators and crew are going through a key period because of ten major issues that will have significant impact over the next ten years in the shipping industry.
Mr. Mark Riggio, President of the Ballastwater Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (BEMA) talks about the current challenges toward BWMC implementation, highlighting that the deadline for a BWTS installation expires, thus the sooner they start planning, the better. As explained, more than 80% of the world’s fleet by tonnage flies the flag of an Administration signatory to the Convention
