Houston: Classification society ABS reports that it has published a Ballast Water Treatment Advisory to assist the industry in better understanding the evolving ballast water management (BWM) and treatment regulations, with an emphasis on providing practical guidance do selection, installation and operation of an appropriate treatment system for different ship types.
BWM has become an important environmental issue for the shipping industry in the face of an increasing number of international, regional and local regulations designed to prevent the introduction of nonindigenous invasive species into local waters and ecosystems. The IMO adopted a BWM convention in 2004 that has not yet been formally ratified, leaving an opening for other entities, ranging from national to State governments, to introduce parochial legislation, some of which imposes discharge standards that are much stricter than the IMO standard, says ABS. In the meantime, a burgeoning number of commercial systems have now been developed and have either been approved as meeting the IMO requirements or are in the final stages of gaining type approval.
The 48-page Advisory is the second in a series of environmental communications from ABS, the first having been the ABS Fuel Switching Advisory Notice, released in March, that addressed the issue of burning low sulphur fuel in the new Emission Control Areas (ECAs).
Copies of the Advisory are available in hard copy from ABS offices or are available for download from the ABS website within Resources, Booklets & Bulletins. [16/06/10]
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