The IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) 78th session agreed in principle to develop a Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention Review Plan and established a Correspondence Group to finalise it.
In 2017, MEPC 71 established the experience‑building phase (EBP) associated with the BWM Convention (resolution MEPC.290(71)), to carry out a systematic and evidence-based review of the BWM Convention, potentially leading to the development of a package of amendments.
The World Maritime University (WMU) was engaged to gather and analyse data and prepare the data analysis report (MEPC /1), and following consideration of the report, the MEPC committee agreed in principle to develop a BWM Convention Review Plan.
MEPC 78 agreed in principle to develop a Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention Review Plan and established a Correspondence Group to finalise it.
21 flag states submitted data on 16,199 ships to the WMU, and other data sources included 38 administrations, two port State control Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and nine additional stakeholders. 758 accidents and defects related to ballast water management operations (regulation E-1.7 of the BWM Convention) were reported, along with seven additional safety incidents related to ballast water management.
Of the 123 detailed sampling events and analyses reported by administrations, 68% were compliant with the D-2 standard. The D-2 standard specifies the maximum amount of viable organisms allowed to be discharged. Failures were most common for the ≥ 50 μm organism size class.
Approximately two-thirds of systems (BWMS) using active substances met the maximum allowable discharge concentration requirement for residual oxidants during compliance testing.
12.5% of ships’ crews reported “difficulty with BWMS /maintenance in general.” The three most common concerns raised in industry surveys were the percentage of systems presenting operational problems, lack of sufficient crew training, and insufficient vendor support for maintenance and calibration.
MEPC 78 also approved revised Guidance on methodologies that may be used for enumerating viable organisms for type approval of ballast water management systems (/Rev.1), and guidelines for re-evaluations in cases where modifications have been made to a ballast water management system, for inclusion as a new chapter 12 in the revised Methodology for information gathering and conduct of work of the GESAMP-Ballast Water Working Group (/Rev.5).
MEPC 78 was held between 6-10 June 2022.
