Ballast Water Treatment Technology editor Craig Jallal reviews the highlights and the trends emerging in the ballast water treatment industry in 2023
What is happening with BWMS legislation in North America?
What is happening with BWMS legislation in North America was the title of a ballast water webinar Riviera Maritime Media held in April 2023, and has become more pertinent as 2023 draws to a close.
In the webinar, Lake Carriers Association director of environmental and regulatory affairs Debra DiCianna, InTank BWTS executive business development Giles Candy, and EnviroManagement vice president Marcie Merksamer explained the situation with ballast water treatment regulations in North America.
The situation in the USA, is that after the passing of Vessels Incident Discharge Act (VIDA) in 2018, a complex raft of federal and state legislation was tied up by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a policy letter issued, which would lead to new regulations for the US Coast Guard to enforce.
But the policy letter was delayed, which led to a somewhat remarkable development; legal action by the US Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Earth.
This has forced the EPA to commit to a date for final action on the Clean Water Act and issue a supplemental notice in October 2023 of the proposed rulemaking, explaining the processes and analysis the EPA has undertaken ahead of the rules to be created to meet obligations under VIDA.
This document is now open for comment, which will be reviewed before the next stage of documentation.
Ballast water treatment as a service
One theme that has emerged over the last few years, and is likely to become more prevalent, is that of ballast water treatment as a service. In 2023, Damen Green Solutions and Bawat A/S signed an agreement to solidify their joint venture in the development and sales of cutting-edge mobile BWMS under the collective name Bawat Damen.
The contract was signed at the international maritime exhibition Europort 2023 in Rotterdam by Bawat chief executive Marcus Peter Hummer, Bawat chairman of the board Klaus Nyborg, Damen Shipyards Group chief executive Arnout Damen, and Damen Shipyards Group managing director Marcel Karsijns.
In 2022, Bawat, Green Swan Partners and Bill Burroughs’ Monstrant Viam formed a joint venture, Freedom Ballast, to provide ballast water reception services in US ports.
One of the themes of 2024 and beyond is likely to be the spread of ballast water treatment as a service for vessels with BWMS inadequate for dealing efficiently with challenging water quality.
Ballast water at MEPC 80
At MEPC 80 in July 2023, it was agreed the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention would undergo a comprehensive review process to address priority issues and implement crucial amendments. The Convention Review Plan was approved, which outlines the strategy for reviewing the BWM Convention over the next three years, with a potential adoption of amendments at MEPC 85 in late 2026.
MEPC 80 also adopted amendments to appendix II of the Annex to the BWM Convention (Form of Ballast Water Record Book) set to come into force on 1 February 2025, with approved guidance on ballast water record-keeping and reporting.
MEPC resolutions have been adopted to amend the Guidelines for ballast water management, development of Ballast Water Management Plans (G4), and ballast water exchange (G6). These amendments aim to improve the effectiveness of ballast water management practices.
MEPC 80 also saw approval of a protocol for verifying ballast water compliance monitoring devices to support the effective implementation of the BWM Convention by enabling the use of reliable devices for various purposes.
Vessels fined for US Clean Water Act violations
Although there is a lot of discussion and the threat of legal action over VIDA in the US, it should not be forgotten that the Clean Water Act is still in place, and very much active.
In 2023, several companies and vessels were fined for breaches of the Clean Water Act including two shipping companies, Swire Shipping and MMS, which came to an agreement with the EPA to settle claims of breaching the agency’s Vessel General Permit, which falls under the Clean Water Act.
The settlements involve severe penalties imposed upon the companies for their failure to conform to specific regulations related to ballast water discharge, inspection procedures, monitoring protocols and timely reporting.
Swire Shipping paid US$137,000 in penalties in relation to visits to the port of Pago Pago in American Samoa, and the ports of San Francisco and Long Beach in California, along with other US ports.
MMS, a privately owned company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, was fined US$200,000 for for failing to meet ballast water limitations for biological indicators and biocide residuals during discharges in various US ports.
BWMS: what seafarers want
One of the most remarked upon stories of 2023, was the study conducted by a seafarer on seafarers’ attitudes to ballast water management systems and what seafarers would prefer to see from the performance of such systems.
The study was conducted by Mevlüt Yılmaz as part of a Master’s thesis supervised by Ceren Bilgin Güney at Istanbul Technical University in Turkey, and was reported here.
It lists the elements that seafarers would like to see addressed, and in an interview with Ballast Water Treatment Technology, there are suggestions on how these elements could be addressed in the future.
The future for ballast water treatment is the D-2 standards deadline on 8 September 2024.
In 12 months’ time, it will be interesting to see how many vessels failed to meet the standards, and any penalties have been applied.
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