Web Alert: United States Coastguard guidance on ballas water management

The United States Coastguard (USCG) recently issued guidance on ballast water management (BWM) and ballast water management systems (BWMS).

Contingency plans for BWM

The USCG expects shipowners to plan not only for compliance but also for contingencies. A detailed contingency plan should be included in the vessel-specific BWM plan.

Further details on this issue can be found here. 

Inter-operability of BWMS

Shipowners should not expect BWMS to be ‘plug and play’, and the installation and operation of these systems will require work specific to individual ships.

On 30 November 2017, the USCG issued specific guidance in this respect which can be found here.

Type-approval of BWMS

The current list of six USCG type-approved BWMS can be found here.

USCG perspective on BWM

On 27 November 2017, the USCG published the second part of its blog on BWM which can be found here. 

BWM Q&A session

The USCG has also issued a Q&A about policy and compliance which can be found here.