IMO poised to adopt ballast water convention

THE International Maritime Organization (IMO) is holding a diplomatic conference this week to adopt an international convention on ballast water management. The finalized draft was agreed by the Marine Environment Protection Committee at its 49th session in July 2003 and the IMO says that the proposed new instrument is being developed on the basis of a two-tier approach.

Tier 1 includes requirements that would apply to all ships, including mandatory requirements for a ?ballast water and sediments management plan?, a ?ballast water record book? and a requirement that new ships carry out ballast water management procedures to a given standard. Existing ships would be required to do the same, but after a phase-in period but these procedures may differ from those to be applied to new ships.

Tier 2 gives Parties the option to take additional measures before ships would be allowed to enter their ports. Such additional measures are subject to criteria set in the draft convention and to IMO guidelines yet to be developed, and may also include additional controls applicable to discharge and/or uptake areas of ballast water.

IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos has highlighted the urgent need to agree the proposed new mandatory instrument to regulate the management of ship ballast water and sediment and prevent the transfer of unwanted species from one ecosystem to another. “This is an extremely serious environmental issue which IMO has been working on for more than a decade. The fact of the matter is that ships, by carrying thousands of tonnes of ballast water from one part of the world to another, can transfer pathogens and other micro-organisms and invasive species which have the capacity to distort and destroy the very delicate balance which exists in the ecosystem of the region where the ballast water is offloaded,” Mr Mitropoulos said.