Type-approved, USCG-compliant ballast water treatment systems now widely available
With an additional two-year delay granted by IMO to allow more systems to obtain type approval, the industry is now getting ready to fully implement the Ballast Water Management Convention. The wave of retrofits is expected to peak in 2022, which will challenge the resources of manufacturers, yards and class.
The IMO Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention will definitely be implemented as of September 2019. In view of the initial lack of suitable ballast water treatment systems (BWTS) on the market, open questions regarding the technical maturity of the systems, disputes about the approval processes and the enormous costs of achieving compliance, a number of governments and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) had urged the IMO to delay the implementation dates for BWTS installation by two years.
IMO agreed, which means that ships in service using seawater for ballast operations in international trade must install a BWTS no later than the next IOPP renewal survey following 8 September 2019. Applicable newbuildings keel laid after September 2017 are required to have a BWTS at delivery. All ships must be in compliance by September 2024. Martin Olofsson, Senior Principal Engineer, Environmental Protection Unit at DNV GL’s Approval Centre in Oslo, believes this to be a reasonable solution, especially since practically all vessels already apply the transitional ballast water management method according to the IMO’s D-1 standard, exchanging their ballast water at high sea to avoid bringing invasive species into coastal waters.
