In a series regarding ballast water, USCG outlined its intention to enforce compliance with the ballast water discharge standards. USCG expects all ballast water discharged to U.S. waters to be managed and reported in compliance with federal regulations.
As it is mentioned, similarly with other environmental laws and regulations, planning for compliance requires planning for contingencies. For ballast water, contingency planning should be included in the vessel-specific ballast water management plan (BWMP).
The BWMP should provide concise directions and alternate measures to be taken if a ballast water management system (BWMS) is inoperable or the vessel’s intended compliance method is unexpectedly unavailable.
The BWMP should also provide contingency measures that are specific to the vessel and its intended ballast water management method.
In addition, the BWMP must outline the procedure for consulting with the Captain of the Port (COTP) and reporting to the National Ballast Information Clearinghouse (NBIC).
If a BWMS stops operating correctly during a voyage, the vessel owner or operator has to inform the nearest COTP as soon as possible.
COTP will request information regarding the length of time the system has been inoperable, the suspected cause of failure, repairs already completed, a schedule for proposed corrective action, and other operational data.
After thar, the COTP will use this information to confirm the BWMS meets the “unexpectedly unavailable” threshold.
Namely, the COTP needs to determine if attempts to repair the BWMS are supported by communications with the manufacturer and other compliant ballast water management methods are available.
If a vessel is discovered to not be in compliance with the regulations, the COTP may impose operational controls that restrict the vessel’s movement or cargo operations, a monetary penalty, and a higher priority consideration for future examinations.
Finally, restrictions in cargo operations can be importan and include port, agent or pilot fees, additional fuel costs, and cargo delays. There is also the potential for prosecution if there is evidence of criminal intent, USCG says.
In previous articles, USCG had touched upon the subject of the type approval program. It said that since 2015, there has been a dramatic increase in the volume of ballast water being treated before being discharged into US waters and provides a list of type approved BWMSs.
Namely, in 2015, about 150,000 cubic meters of treated ballast water was discharged monthly, but by 2017, the monthly discharge of treated water increased more than 10-fold to about 1.8 million cubic meters per month.
Furthermore, regarding the BWMS, USCG noted that its selection, installation, operation, and maintenance requires analyses specific to the vessel and its operating profile.
For this reason every BWMS installation is a customized installation, and every ballast water management plan (BWMP) is a customized plan. Furthermore, a BWMS will require analyses specific to the vessel and its operating profile and should not be “plug and play”.
