About BWM Convention

BWM Convention (Ballast Water Management Convention) is an agreement that was adopted on Feb. 2004, for preventing sea contamination induced by Ballast Water. This convention deals  with the details such as the definition of terms, range of convention applications, the issuing and inspecting of certificate and the punishment for any to breach under the regulation.
Contents of BWM Convention

BWM Convention consists of 22 provisions and Annexe that includes General Rules(A-1~5), Rules for Ship Management and Control(B-1~6), Special Condition of Some Specific Sea Area(C-1~3), Management Standard of Safety Supervision for Ballast Water(D-1~5) and Details for Contents of Inspection and/or Certificate(E1~5).
The details of annex are as follows:

 

 

The ballast water is essential for the stability of vessel during voyage; However many microorganisms carried in the ballast water are a is major cause for the destruction of marine ecosystems. This matter does not affect only the reduction of marine biodiversity, but also substantial economic damages. People who realized the seriousness of this issue, discussed with IMO and decided to adopt a this convention to resolve this situation. with IMO. Accordingly, in 2004, the BWM Convention was adopted.

In more detail: from Since the 1990s, the agenda for marine organisms had been raised several times at the Rio de Janeiro Environment Conference (in 1992), IMO meetings, and etc.
The BWM Convention was then is prepared as draft at 49th Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) through 40th MEPC, and finally it was adopted at IMO meeting in Feb. 2004.



Requirement for Effectuation of BWM Convention
Ratification by each country is not the requirement for enforcement of the BWM convention ; rather the convention shall be enforced on fulfilment of the  requirements as announced, for  accelerating, the enforcement date.
More specifically, this convention will come into effect after 12 months from the time that the 30 countries forming 35% of freight volumes of all over the world ratify. However as of Mar. 2016, 49 countries forming 34.82 of freight volumes of all over the world have ratified.

This figure falls slightly short of meeting  the requirement of 35%.
In the near future, the convention will go into effect after 1 year from the time of adding 0.18% more freight volumes.
It is hard to estimate the concrete date of effectuation. However it is judged that the requirement for effectuation is will be fulfilled soon because recently, the number of countries joining the convention has is increased

If BWM Convention goes into effect, all vessels including the vessels of countries that do not ratify the convention must meet all requirements such as installation of BWTS, keeping the management plan book on BWTS, etc.
Moreover, if the vessel does not satisfy the standards set for ballast water discharge at port, the vessel must pay fine according to the regulation of the port authority.

.Performance standard of BWMS
The vessel must be equipped with BWMS based on IMO standard. According to the rule of D-2 in the BWM Convention, it is specified that the vessel appropriated for Ballast Water Performance Standard shall discharge as follows;

Approval of the BWMS

For the BWMS, first, the approval for active substance must be obtained from IMO under the G9 guide line on processor for management system of active substance, then, the type approval must be obtained from each government under the G8 guide line on processor for type approval.

After the BWM Convention goes into effect, the developer cannot randomly do trial run of the vessel. The developer has to proceed the trial run of the vessel under G10 guide line on processor for program approval by each government.

When the convention is implemented, the port authorities of each country have to carry out collecting samples of ballast water and biological test to check the vessel to identify whether the vessel coming into the port discharge the ballast water in accordance with the performance standard of convention under the G2 sampling guide line.

In case of type approval for BWMS, the principal agent who gives approval can be country or classification empowered by government.

Total 7 countries have been are empowered for type approval. Among the 7 countries, 4 countries -Korea, German, Japan and South Africa – directly issue directly the type approval by government, and other 3 countries –Norway, China and UK- are issue the type approval through the Classification Society empowered by each government.
The stipulated time schedule for installation of  BWMS

The standard for BWMS varies with shipbuilding time and the capacity of ballast tank.
The specific standards are as follows:

For vessels built after the effectuation date, the convention advises that the BWMS be installed at the time of building Vessels built before effectuation date are , obliged to install the BWMS by the first IOPP regular inspection after the effectuation date
Aside from IMO regulation, USA permits port entry for the vessel with independently approved type approval from USCG. This is being implemented in USA, however no company has yet obtained  the USCG Type Approval, and the AMS (Alternative Management System) is implemented temporarily.
AMS, as a temporary certificate issued after examining the documents submitted by BWMS Company, is valid for 5 years. Therefore, finally for entering USA port, vessels have to individually obtain type approval from USCG.
For obtaining the USCG type approval, passing the rigorous tests are needed, such as  5 continual times on shore test, 5 continual times test at sea,etc. Then, the BWMS Company obtaining the type approval from USCG will be limited.