Policy and Legal Framework and the Current Status of Ballast Water Management Requirements - Global Maritime Transport and Ballast Water Management: Issues and Solutions - page 64

Guidelines for the Control and Management of Ships ' Ballast Water to Minimize the
Transfer of Harmful Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens were adopted by Resolution
A.868(20) (IMO 1997 ), which replaced Resolution A.774(18).
The importance of biological invasions was brought into greater focus as several
devastating introductions in many countries occurred (e.g., the Atlantic comb jelly,
Mnemiopsis leidyi , in the Black Sea (Shiganova 1998 ; Ivanov et al. 2000 ), the zebra
mussel, Dreissena polymorpha , in the North American Great Lakes (e.g., Karatayev
et al. 2002 ), the Northern Pacifi c sea star, Asterias amurensis , in Australia and
Tasmania (Byrne and Morrice 1997 ; Rossa et al. 2003 ), and it was recommended
that IMO works towards a stand-alone Convention to address this problem.
Consequently the BWM Convention was fi nalised and adopted at the Diplomatic
Conference in London on February 13, 2004 (see chapter “ Ballast Water

Management Under the Ballast Water Management Convention ” ).
A number of countries have taken the approach to nationally implement BWM
requirements of which some have also ratifi ed the BWM Convention. Most of these
requirements are based upon the IMO Ballast Water Exchange (BWE) Standard
(Regulation D-1), some countries refer to the Ballast Water Performance Standard
(D-2 standard) and a minority addresses land-based ballast water reception facili-
ties. Should BWE not be possible due to, e.g., safety reasons, most countries require
that the next port of call should be notifi ed that other measures can be taken, which
includes a BWE in a designated coastal area or other water treatment (e.g., brine
treatment in Canada 16 ). Some countries further request ships to have a BWM plan
and an up-to-date ballast water record topic on board.

The Americas

The most comprehensive BWM requirements are implemented in North America
with the USA having the most “diverse” requirements. In Central America ballast
water operations in the Panama Canal are restricted and several countries in South
America require BWE.

North America

Canada

The Canadian ballast water regulations apply to Canadian vessels everywhere and
to vessels that are not Canadian vessels and are in waters under Canadian jurisdic-
tion. Vessels subject to the requirements may use BWE, treatment, land-based

16 Canada does not have any regulations requiring brine treatment, but inspectors offer it as an
option for ships that arrive with tanks having salinity below 30 ppt. It is a good option only if there
is a small number of tanks to be treated, and usually for residual ballast (Wang et al. 2012 ; Bailey
personal communication).