By
Rebecca Gibson |
The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention is expected to enter force in 2017 rather 2016, after it failed to secure ratification from countries with merchant fleets meeting the required 35% of global tonnage.
The convention, which addresses the problem of invasive species being transported around the world in ships’ ballast water, will enter force 12 months after the date on which it has been ratified by at least 30 states controlling a combined 35% of the global fleet by tonnage.
Although the convention has now been ratified by 47 countries – including Morocco, Indonesia and Ghana in November 2015 – their combined fleets only comprise 34.56% of global tonnage.
Despite this, the IMO has encouraged shipowners to install the necessary equipment and establish operational procedures so that the BWM Convention can be implemented rapidly upon entry into force. Amendments to the convention, to be implemented after it enters into force, will be considered at a Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting this April.
“The recent ratifications have brought the BWM Convention so very close to entry into force,” said Kitack Lim, IMO secretary general. “While we cannot predict exactly when that will happen, I would urge countries that have not done so to ratify the BWM Convention as soon as possible so that we can establish a certain date for entry into force, and also so that it is widely accepted when it does.”