ABS holds BWM workshops

At the workshops held in New Orleans, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Athens attendees reviewed the best practices, challenges, maintenance requirements and feasible contingency measures involved in successful BWM system integration.

ABS’s senior vice president for engineering and technology, Derek Novak, valued the workshops. “The responses we received from the owners and operators helped us gain a broad industry perspective from around the globe, which we will use to develop and enhance our guidance to industry,” he said.

The results of a comprehensive questionnaire completed by participants show that many in the marine industry are making efforts to get systems fully functional and in operation to meet US Coast Guard and IMO compliance timelines.

Responses indicate that the number of completely inoperable systems has dropped from 14% to 6% since ABS last conducted a survey in 2017.

Key insights gained during the workshop include the incorporation of ship-specific contingency measures; the need for system-specific training and monitoring of data and trends and that after-sales support and expertise is important for uninterrupted operation.

As a result of these workshops, ABS is updating its ‘Best Practices for Operation of Ballast Water Management Systems’ report, last published in August 2017.