ICS Calls on IMO to Support Implementation Date Proposal for BWM Convention

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday June 19, 2017

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) today issued a call for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to support a proposal related to implementation dates of the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention.

"ICS insists there is no logic, from an environmental protection standpoint, in requiring thousands of ships in the existing fleet to comply until they can be fitted with systems that have been approved under the more stringent type-approval standards which were only adopted by IMO in 2016," said ICS in the statement.

Under the proposal, which was put forth to IMO by Brazil, Cook Islands, India, Norway, Liberia, and UK, implementation would be delayed for existing ships by pushing back the date those vessels are required to start fitting ballast water management systems by a further two years to the date of their first International Oil Pollution Prevention (IOPP) renewal survey, on or after September 8, 2019. 

As a result, the date by which all ships must have installed a system will be extended from 2022 to 2024.

ICS notes that, in addition to a possible shortage of shipyard and manufacturing capacity to retrofit approximately 40,000 systems, shipping companies will be faced with making decisions related to installing such new equipment.

"If this pragmatic proposal is agreed, this would allow shipping companies to identify and invest in far more robust technology to the benefit of the marine environment," said Peter Hinchliffe, ICS Secretary General.

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