2024's top stories in Ballast Water Treatment Technology

To read each story in full, click on the headline, the image or the link at the end of the text.

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1. MEPC 81: key ballast water developments

Recognising the complexities of water quality in ports for ballast water management systems, MEPC 81 finalised interim guidance to aid ships and Administrations in navigating operations in challenging water quality conditions. The guidance outlines principles, procedures and record-keeping practices, ensuring compliance with the Ballast Water Management Convention despite challenging environments.

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2. Vessel fined for dumping untreated ballast water

In Bremerhaven, Germany, a routine inspection on 10 July revealed a Malta-flagged container ship had discharged approximately 900 tonnes of untreated ballast water into the Baltic Sea on 26 June, violating the Ballast Water Management Convention.

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3. High non-compliance rates found in treated ballast water in Australian ports

Australia submitted a study to IMO MEPC 81 on the effectiveness of ballast water management systems in relation to the BWM Convention, and non-compliance was observed for 36% (16) of detailed tests for biological compliance. 

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4. Ballast water treatment system inspections set to increase from September 2024

From 8 September 2024, all vessels subject to the BWM Convention must have installed a D-2-compliant ballast water treatment system capable of dealing with the maximum number of viable organisms allowed to be discharged. UV-based water treatment specialist BIO-UV Group anticipates an increase in inspections as Port State Control inspectors check machinery installations, crew competencies and Ballast Water Management Plans.

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5. Has IMO called time on ballast water treatment?

Concern over the management of ballast water has shaped international regulations and technological advancements for decades. Yet, as we look to the future, the question arises: is ballast water treatment fading as a pressing issue at IMO, or is it poised for renewed focus? When this question was posed to the new IMO secretary general, Arsenio Antonio Dominguez Velasco in 2024, he replied it was an issue that was close to his interests – he had previously been chair of the Marine Environment Protection Committee.

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