Ballast Water Convention: Ship owners get two-year reprieve

Shipowners have been given a two-year reprieve on the retrofitting of ballast water treatment systems, as the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has decided to delay the implementation of the convention until 2019.

With the imminent entry into force of the international Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention on 8 September, 2017, IMO’s MEPC, at its 71st meeting last week, reached an anticipated compromise agreement on pushing back the regulatory enforcement date.

Ships constructed after 8 September, 2017, must still comply on delivery from the yard, but existing ships in general must comply by the first International Oil Pollution Prevention (IOPP) certificate renewal after 8 September, 2019.

It was also agreed at MEPC 71 that a ship to which the IOPP renewal survey does not apply (generally ships less than 400 gross tonnes in size), needS to comply with the BWM Convention no later than 8 Septembe,r 2024, pointing to full, global implementation by then.