Ballast Water Management Under the Ballast Water Management Convention - Global Maritime Transport and Ballast Water Management: Issues and Solutions - page 89

Keywords Ballast water management • Ballast water management convention
• Ballast water guidelines • Ballast water exchange standard • Ballast water perfor-
mance standard • Reception facilities • Sediment management • Exemptions
• Exceptions • Ballast water management convention implementation

The Ballast Water Management Convention

The importance of ballast water as a vector for moving non-indigenous species was
initially addressed in a 1973 International Maritime Organization (IMO) resolution
(IMO 1973 ). Subsequently IMO worked towards the fi nalization of the International
Convention for the Control and Management of Ships ' Ballast Water and Sediments
(BWM Convention) which was adopted in February 2004 at a diplomatic confer-
ence in London (IMO 2004 ). This Convention's aim is to prevent, minimize and
ultimately eliminate the risks to the environment, human health, property and
resources which arise from the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens
(HAOP) via ships' ballast waters and related sediments. It should be noted that
harmful aquatic organisms in this context are not limited to non-indigenous species,
but covers all species irrespective of their origin.
The BWM Convention consists of 22 Articles followed by fi ve sections with
Regulations. In addition, two Appendices provide standard formats and require-
ments regarding the form of International Ballast Water Management Certifi cates
as well as recording operations for reporting and verifi cation in a Ballast Water
Record Topic.
The Regulations for the control and management of ships' ballast water and sedi-
ments are presented in fi ve sections:

• Section A: General provisions: Defi nitions, General applicability, Exceptions,
Exemptions, Equivalent Compliance;
• Section B: Management and control Requirements for Ships: Ballast Water
Management;

• Section C: Special Requirements in Certain Areas;

• Section D: Standards for Ballast Water Management; and

• Section E: Survey and Certifi cation requirements for Ballast Water Management.

Certain obligations are to be met by all stakeholders including the ship, the
Administrations, i.e., both in their capacity as Flag state, Port State, and as the
representative of a Party, and IMO.
The BWM Convention enters into force 12 months after the date on which
more than 30 states, with combined merchant fl eets not less than 35 % of the
gross tonnage of the world's merchant shipping, have signed this Convention. As
of December 2013, 38 states ratifi ed the BWM Convention, representing 30.38 %
of the world merchant shipping gross tonnage (for an update visit Status of
Conventions at www.imo.org ).