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United States News
Lake Carrier Association Files Petition to Investigate Canada's BWM Regulations
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has
accepted a petition
filed by the Lake Carrier's Associations (LCA) that alleges Canada's proposed ballast water regulations will discriminate against US flag vessel operators. Acceptance of the petition will initiate an investigation of the allegations and serve to gather information, solicit public comments, and examine the potential harm to the US Flag fleet resulting from the proposed Canadian regulations. The investigation will provide information for the FMC to consider all options, statutory remedies and sanctions that are available under Section 19 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, as amended. The FMC will soon publish a notice in the Federal Register with further details.
USCG Expands Regulations on BWM Reporting Requirements
The US Coast Guard (USCG) issued a
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register
that would expand regulations on vessel financial responsibility for all tank vessels greater than 100 gross tons and other amendments to clarify and update reporting requirements, remove unnecessary regulations and reflect current practice. The Coast Guard is seeking public comments on the proposed rule until August 11, 2020.
Ballast Water Treatment System Type Approvals
The USCG has recently issued Type Approval Certificates for the following treatment systems:
GUARDIAN-US
manufactured by Hyde Marine, Inc. (30th Type Approval)
HK-(E)R
manufactured by Miura Co., Ltd. (31st Type Approval)
LUV U1 manufactured by Semb-Eco, Pte, Ltd.. (33rd Type Approval)
No applications for Type Approval of new systems have been received by the USCG. A
current list
of approved BWMS and the status of Type Approval applications is maintained by the USCG.
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International News
BWM Convention Extends to Hong Kong
On May 13,
China notified the IMO
that it has extended the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which brings the coverage of the treaty to more than 90% of shipping worldwide. This action means that ships flagged to Hong Kong, China will now be required to comply with the BWM Convention, effective August 13, 2020.
IMO Issued COVID-19 Guidance
To support protecting all workers vital to the global shipping supply chain, the IMO has issued COVID-19 guidance for Personal Protective Equipment (
PPE
) and for
interactions between ship and shore-based personnel.
The guidance is based on information from the World Health Organization (WHO) and information from global industry associations, and includes a wealth of references to support various aspects of shipping industry operations.
IMO Meetings Rescheduled
Impacts of COVID-19 on the
IMO's 2020 meeting schedule
has been extensive, impacting all meetings that were planned since mid-March. The IMO is working diligently to reschedule meetings and determine priority, as well as considering holding virtual meetings
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Other Updates
INTERTANKO Releases Summary on Member Experience of BWMS
INTERTANKO has issued a publication,
Commentary on Entries in the Ballast Water Record Book (BWRB), for ballast water operations commonly used on tankers. The document provides a summary of the BWM Convention requirements related to a BWRB under Regulation B-2 and commentary based on feedback from INTERTANKO members and several Administrations.
Additionally, the INTERTANKO publication offers various interpretations of record-keeping and the possible options for making entries. A sample format is included in the Annex.
SGS Published White Paper on Commission Testing
SGS has published a
white paper
summarizing results of BWMS Commissioning Testing of ballast water management systems. While not all tests were successful in demonstrating compliance with the IMO's D-2 discharge standard, in some cases based on the results of indicative analysis methods, the paper highlighted that "...only 3% of the tests were cancelled due to complications with the BWMS operations (e.g., due to automatic shutdown)." An overall conclusion of the paper is that "...BWMS installed onboard are operational..." and that BWMS type approval testing has been done appropriately.
***This information is provided by Ecochlor as a courtesy and all regulatory requirements must be verified by the vessel***
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Ecochlor in the News
Please contact Ecochlor at
[email protected]
to learn how the Ecochlor® BWMS can help your vessels achieve and maintain compliance with U.S. and international ballast water regulations.
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND ARTICLES
El Navi
May Issue
Athens, Greece
Ecochlor functions 3 pillars of reliability to guarantee its BWMS efficacy.
El Navi Editor, Stefanos Papandreo, interviewed the Ecochlor team at which time they described the advantages of the Ecochlor ballast water management system.
HANSA
April Issue
Hamburg, Germany
 5 questions with Katie Weaver . . .
HANSA International Maritime Magazine
interviewed Katie Weaver, Ecochlor's Technical Sales Manager about the Ecochlor ballast water management system and planned installations for 2020.
Ballast Water Webinar Week
May 19, 2020
Riviera Maritime Media, London, UK
Andrew Marshall, VP of Business Development was part of a panel of experts in ballast water management for the Riviera Maritime hosted,
Navigating the BWMS Selection Maze, during BW Webinar Week in May 2020.
Postponed to October 26 - 30, 2020
Metropolitan Expo - Athens, Greece
Stand Hall 1 #115
Workshop Presentation:
Looking Beyond the Commissioning to Operational Compliance for Ballast Water Management Systems
Workshop Presentation:
NanoVapor Gas-Freeing Technology: A Carnival Cruise Line Case Study
Postponed to February 2 - 5, 2021
Hamburg Messe und Congress - Hamburg, Germany
Stand Hall A1 #305
Workshop Presentation:
2020 Update on the Best Practices for the Installation and Operation of a Ballast Water Management System
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