Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Biofouling - Prevention of Pollution of the Marine Environment from Vessels - page 70

written in the working language of the ship and, if the working language is not
English, French or Spanish, a translation into one of these languages shall be
included. 38 The Plan must be ship-specific and at least detail the following:

￿ safety procedures for the ship and the crew associated with Ballast Water
Management;
￿ description of the actions to be taken to implement the Ballast Water Manage-
ment requirements;

￿ the procedures for the disposal of Sediments;

￿ the procedures for shipboard Ballast Water Management that involves discharge

to the sea;

￿ the officer on board in charge of ensuring that the plan is properly implemented;

and

the reporting requirements for ships. 39 ￿

Each ship must have a Ballast Water Record Book that can be electronically
recorded and integrated into another record book. Each operation concerning
ballast water must be recorded in the record book, which must also be made readily
available for inspection. Port State officials are authorised to inspect the Ballast
Water Record Book and a certified copy of the topic will be admissible in any
judicial proceedings.
The BWM Convention introduced two standards for ballast water management:
Ballast Water Exchange Standard under Regulation D-1 and Ballast Water Perfor-
mance Standard under Regulation D-2. Regulation B-3 of the Annex elaborated the
specific requirements for ballast water management. It introduced a phase-in
system after which ships must meet the more stringent Ballast Water Performance
Standard under Regulation D-2.

4.2.4.1 Ballast Water Exchange Standard (Regulation D-1 Standard)

When the BWM Convention came into force, it introduced a suitable mechanism
for the total elimination of harmful aquatic organisms in ballast water. The Con-
vention introduced interim measures to exchange the ballast water en route on the
high seas to prevent the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms from one region to
another. As will be discussed, these interim measures will replaced by another
system altogether. Regulation D-1 of the BWM Convention requires vessels to
maintain an efficiency level of 95 % volumetric exchange of ballast water. 40
Whenever possible, ballast water exchange must be conducted at least 200 nautical

Guidelines for additional measures including emergency situations; Guidelines on designation of
areas for ballast water exchange; Guidelines for Ballast Water Exchange in the Antarctic
Treaty area.
38 BWM Convention, annex, reg. B-1.
39 BWM Convention, annex, reg. B-1.
40 BWM Convention, annex, reg. D-1.