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2021's top stories in Ballast Water Treatment Technology
We look back over our most read stories from the year to revisit the topics that your reading habits revealed as key issues in the maritime industry in 2021
Perhaps unsurprisingly, looming compliance deadlines and the daunting logistics still to be overcome to meet those deadlines underpinned the preponderance of the most read stories on Ballast Water Treatment Technology in 2021.
While one expert warned of the coming ’tsunmami’ of retrofits over the next few years, a class society drove home the message with analysis showing the ’uncomfortable’ number of retrofits that need to be done in 2022, alone. Time constraints, some to do with difficulties related to the ongoing pandemic, forced global shipping regulator IMO to push back discussion on ballast water-related agenda items, adding to the sense of dwindling time.
Elsewhere our readers were keen to understand how to avoid claims on lapsed exemptions on ballast water treatment systems in US waters as well as how to successfully navigate the BWMS commissioning testing process.
To read each story in full, click on the headline, the image or the link at the end of the text.
Sign up for Riviera’s weekly series of technical and operational webinars and virtual conferences in 2022:
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- Watch recordings from all of 2021’s webinars in our webinar library.
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1. Tsunami of BWMS retrofits coming
EUMT Techcross Scandinavia consultant Per Nykjaer Jensen calculates 35,000 vessels still will have required ballast water management system retrofit installations between mid-2021 and late-2024, meaning that the current rate of BWMS retrofit installations will need a considerable acceleration in activity.
2. Lapsed documentation a significant cause of BWTS failure in US waters
West of England global head of loss prevention Simon Hodgkinson is a Master Mariner (Captain), whose role is to provide expertise and assessment of the P&I club’s issues, and one of the main issues keeping him awake at night is claims due to lapsed exemptions on ballast water treatment systems.
3. ClassNK: looming ballast water treatment systems retrofit overload in 2022
Classification Society ClassNK strongly recommends owners and operators do not leave the retrofit of ballast water management systems to the last minute. Its analysis shows an uncomfortable number of retrofit installations are due in 2022.
4. BWMS commissioning testing: making it work in practice
IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee has previously addressed the practical constraints the industry has faced on BWMS commissioning testing by approving revised guidance on ballast water sampling and analysis. However, confusion still surrounds testing versus type-approval.
5. IMO agenda change to push ballast water discussions to 2022
IMO decided the need to tackle Marpol updates including greenhouse gas emissions issues and plastic litter would be the focus of MEPC 76 and that ballast water treatment issues would be deferred to MEPC 77 in November 2021.
Sign up for Riviera’s weekly series of technical and operational webinars and virtual conferences in 2022:
- Register to attend by visiting our events page.
- Watch recordings from all of 2021’s webinars in our webinar library.
- Attendees of Riviera’s virtual conferences can view session videos in the virtual conference library.
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