BIMCO and other shipping organisations are being asked by the International Maritime Organization to provide feedback on how the Ballast Water Convention is actually working in practice.

Following entry in to force of the BWM Convention, the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) immediately launched an Experience-Building-Phase (EBP) to monitor the implementation. This data-gathering and analysis process is designed to identify aspects of the Convention’s implementation that are working as required, and to further enhance the aspects that are not working. To build a complete and realistic picture, the process requires the input of all stakeholders to identify where challenges may have occurred that were not initially envisaged. The analysis covers a wide range of issues from operation of systems and the role of the crew through to testing and sampling.

The IMO has commissioned the World Maritime University (WMU) to supervise the data gathering and analysis as required by the exercise, and they are inviting BIMCO members to submit data and information that will be treated in the strictest confidence. This provides BIMCO members a unique opportunity to express any concerns with the way the Convention is being implemented.

At present, shipowners are invited to submit their reports to the flag State which duly submits the report. However, this new initiative will see the WMU, on behalf of the IMO Secretariat, collecting complementary data for the EBP. As such, BIMCO members are now able to submit more detailed “complementary data” directly to WMU if preferred, rather than using the stakeholder interface via the flag State.

BIMCO members willing to share information with the WMU rather than via the flag State  are invited to firstly contact the WMU for further details by emailing EBP21@wmu.se. The deadline for all input is 22 October 2021.

Source: The Maritime Advocate