Bunker Tanker Owners Could Benefit from Proposed Ballast Water Rule

Bunker tankers operating within Same Risk Areas would not have to pay to upgrade their vessels with BWM systems.

The International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) Tuesday highlighted that bunker tanker owners may be one of the groups to benefit from an amendment to Ballast Water Management (BWM) rules currently being considered by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

As Ship & Bunker reported in February, the BWM convention is less then one percent away from meeting the 35 percent ratification threshold, and once met all vessels will eventually be required to be fitted with BWM systems.

While the aim of the convention is sound - to stop the spread of invasive species around the globe - groups including Interferry have argued that it is unfair to ask certain coastal and short-sea shippers to pay for BWM tech when their vessels always operate within a "same risk area" (SRA) and as such never pose a risk.

Back in March Ship & Bunker reported that the Danish Maritime Authority has defined a SRA as "the delimitation of a body of water that allows one risk assessment to be applied to all ports and locations within that area."

Currently, flag states can give exceptions to the vessels on a case-by-case basis, but IBIA calls that process "very onerous and uncertain."

IMO is now considering a mechanism where states can issue a general exemption to BWM rules based on the SRA concept.

"IBIA believes this approach may also benefit bunker tanker owners with vessels operating in a limited geographical range between neighbouring coastal states, for example between Denmark and Sweden, or between Singapore and Malaysia," the associated said.

"It could be relevant for many areas such as the Adriatic, the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea, the Gibraltar Strait and the English Channel."

A bunkering vessel without BWM systems could still operate outside of the SRA "as long as it never makes any ballast water exchanges outside of the SRA," or cleaned its ballast water tanks and used fresh water, IBIA added.

As Ship & Bunker reported last October, some analysts believe that tanker rates could get a further boost as tonnage is taken out of service for special surveys or dry docking ahead of the BWM Convention's implementation.