As the Britannia P&I Club informs, the Government of Ukraine has now published the full text of the Regulation on Inspection, Taking Samples of Water and Conducting its Analysis and which came into force on 5 September 2019.
The regulations establish the procedures to be followed when taking ballast water samples, while it also clarifies that there should be representatives from the maritime administration, the master of the ship and from the maritime agent present when samples are taken.
In addition, if inspectors come alone without the proper representatives present, they should not be allowed access.
Moreover, segregated ballast water is not subject to these new controls, but the Club suggests to always make sure that the vessel’s interests are protected by having the various representatives present at all times when any samples are requested or taken.
Recently, Ukraine Cabinet of Ministers abolished the Ecological Inspection Service, which will be replaced with the State Environmental Service.
The Ukrainian president had commissioned the Head of the Ukraine Sea Ports Authority to stop the inspection attending vessels in Ukrainian ports, pending a review of their activities, the consultant informed.
Several P&I Clubs have earlier reported an upsurge in the number of requests for assistance from shipowners and P&I clubs relating to ecological inspectors in Ukraine.
In May, the control of segregated ballast in Ukrainian ports was temporarily cancelled and ecological inspectors were no longer permitted to inspect vessels for the purposes of ‘ecological control’, including taking and analyzing samples of ballast water.
