LR: BWMS commission testing must be by approved supplier

Lloyd’s Register has come up with new guidance ahead of the proposed amendments by International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to its Ballast Water Management Convention regulation E-1, which are expected to come into force in October 2021. These amendments mandate the commissioning testing of ballast water management systems (BWMS) during installation surveys.

Drafted at IMO’s MEPC 74 meeting, the amendments are expected to be adopted at MEPC 75 in November 2020.

Flag administrations are likely to be encouraged to enforce early implementation. Some already mandate commissioning testing, such as Australia, Cyprus, Panama and Singapore.

Also expected to be adopted at MEPC 75 are drafted amendments by the IMO PPR 7 sub-committee, to BWM.2/Circ.70 – Guidance for the commissioning testing of ballast water management systems. These include a requirement that “the collection and analysis of the representative samples should be independent of the BWMS manufacturer or supplier and to the satisfaction of the administration”.

Ahead of these changes to the regulatory framework, LR has included a new category, Commissioning Testing of Ballast Water Management Systems, into its ‘Procedures for Approval of Service Suppliers’.

Where the vessel’s flag administration has mandated the application of BWM.2/Circ.70/Rev.1 after it is adopted at MEPC 75, it is anticipated that LR will only accept commissioning testing of BWMS done by an approved service supplier.

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