ICS: IMO Ballast Water Rules Need Amendment Now

Untreated ballast water spreads organisms across the globe

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) says it is in the middle of a final flurry of lobbying to secure an amendment to ballast water treatment rules due to be discussed at this week's meeting of the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Marine Protection Environment Committee (MEPC).

The IMO's Ballast Water Management Convention rules are due to come into force during 2016 requiring water treatment systems to be fitted to ships, but ICS argues that outstanding problems with the rules mean early adopters could be disadvantaged.

"Shipping companies still lack confidence that the very expensive new equipment required [under new IMO rules] will be regarded as fully compliant by governments, even though it has been type-approved, unless serious implementation problems with the Convention are addressed," said ICS.

"The issues that governments need to address include the lack of robustness of the current IMO type-approval process for the expensive new treatment equipment, the criteria to be used for sampling ballast water during Port State Control inspections, and the need for 'grandfathering' of type-approved equipment already or about to be fitted," continued the industry body which indirectly represents 80 percent of the world's shipping tonnage.

Without the addition of grandfathering rules, said ICS, shippers who have implemented type-approved systems to date could lose millions of dollars of investment if standards are changed.

"On the basis of recent contact with governments, ICS believes that there is now greater understanding of the industry's concern that new equipment, which has been type-approved in accordance with agreed IMO standards, might subsequently be deemed to be non-compliant," exaplined ICS.

However, it contended that the Government of Canada's recent proposal to allow "minor exceedence" does not solve any problems and could exacerbate them.

ICS said it would continue to lobby stakeholders ahead of the meeting, hoping that its proposed MEPC Resolution will be used as the basis for an amendment to new rules and formalise a kind of "gentleman's agreement" on grandfathering.

"ICS believes that outstanding problems must be addressed now, in advance of the Convention receiving the necessary number of ratifications by governments to enter into force," said the body.

International Bunker Industry Association Chairman Jens Maul Jørgensen recently said he had submitted a proposal for discussion at next week's MEPC meeting concerning the issue of worsening bunker quality.