Shipowners get two-year reprieve for ballast water convention

With the imminent entry into force of the international Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention on 8 September 2017, IMO’s MEPC at its 71st meeting last week reached an anticipated compromise agreement on pushing back the regulatory enforcement date.

Ships constructed after 8 September 2017 must still comply on delivery from the yard, but existing ships in general must comply by the first International Oil Pollution Prevention (IOPP) certificate renewal after 8 September 2019.

It was also agreed at MEPC 71 that a ship to which the IOPP renewal survey does not apply (generally ships less than 400 gross tonnes in size) need to comply with the BWM Convention no later than 8 September 2024, pointing to full global implementation by then.