INSTEAD opposing the UN's Ballast Water Management Convention, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) will now lobby member states to make amendments to the convention before signing it into enforceable law, reports London's Tanker Operator.
"ICS will therefore no longer discourage governments from ratifying the convention, in order that it might enter into force sooner so amendments the industry requested can be adopted and implemented," said the ICS statement.
ICS complains of a lack of "robustness" in the UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) approval process for costly ballast water treatment equipment, and the standards the range of standard used individual Port State Control (PSC) inspectors, and the need for "grandfathering" already approved gear that was judged by earlier less stringent G8 standards.
The ICS change in stance is in recognition of progress made by IMO member states in agreeing to solutions to issues that have impeded ratification of the convention and their agreement to start work on a revision of the G8 type-approval guidelines to make the process for approving ballast water treatment equipment more robust.
This significant change of ICS' position signals recognition of the real progress made by IMO member states towards agreeing solutions to those major issues that have previously impeded ratification of the convention and their agreement to start work immediately on a revision of the G8 type-approval guidelines to make the process for approving ballast water treatment equipment more robust.
The IMO has also agreed in principle that any shipowner who has invested in first generation treatment equipment, type-approved under the current G8 guidelines, should not be penalised, provided that the equipment is operated and maintained correctly.
At issue, is the existing IMO-approved shipboard ballast water treatment may not be good enough to meet the more exacting standards in the new regulations.
The convention addresses fears that ballast water, taken on to make light-in-the-water ships more stable at sea, contain invasive species from one part of the world that upset ecological balance in another. These have to be killed before the ballast water is discharged.
But the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) failed decide what treatment machine would be good enough when it adopted the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments.
IMO&EU NEWS
22 December 2014 - 23:23
International Chamber of Shipping fights at state level
INSTEAD opposing the UN's Ballast Water Management Convention, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) will now lobby member states to make amendments to the convention before signing it into enforceable law, reports London's Tanker Operator.
IMO&EU NEWS
22 December 2014 - 23:23
International Chamber of Shipping fights UN ballast water rule at state level
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