Vessels and Ballast Water - Global Maritime Transport and Ballast Water Management: Issues and Solutions - page 27

Fig. 16 The Cougar Ace fl ip (Photo credit: Capt. Kevin Bell, US Fish and Wildlife Service)

ships, on 24th May, 1994, the convention was supplemented with amendments in a
new chapter, IX - Management for the Safe Operation of Ships. The main objective
of Chapter IX is the mandatory consideration of the International Safety Management
Code (ISM Code).
The ISM Code was adopted following the tacit consent procedure. It became
mandatory on 1st July, 1998, for all passenger vessels including high speed craft,
tankers, chemical tankers, and liquefi ed gas carriers, including high speed cargo
craft of GT 500 or more. On 1st July, 2002, it became mandatory for other cargo
ships and mobile offshore drilling units of GT 500 or more.
Based on the ISM Code requirements, all ships listed above are required to con-
duct ballast water operations in accordance with a previously prepared plan delin-
eated in the Safety Management Manual that has to be available on board the vessel
at all times. The responsibility for the preparation of safety plans for specifi c vessel
types is by the shipowner, who also has to provide for regular inspection and the
proper functioning of the safety and ballast water system (David 2007 ).

How Much Ballast Water Vessels Discharge?

As stated above, vessels in general discharge ballast when loading cargo, and the
reverse. Logically, it appears that all vessels that load cargo in the port consequently
discharge ballast. But in reality the situation is not so simple. Vessels load different