SHIPOWNERS say they have made headway in having the UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) ease up on compliance costs in ballast water treatment.
It was agreed, reported London's Tanker Operator, that "early movers"- shipowners that have installed equipment should not be penalised and that port states should not apply criminal sanctions, or detain ships, based on sampling during a trial period.
"We are pleased IMO members states agreed to start work on revision of approval guidelines," said International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) secretary general Peter Hinchliffe.
As 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.
Regulations address 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.
Said Mr Hinchliff: "It has been agreed in principle that any shipowner that has invested in first generation treatment equipment under the current guidelines, should not be penalised, provided that the equipment is operated and maintained correctly."
Another issue is the behaviour of Port State Control inspectors in various countries where enforcement styles vary considerably.
Said Mr Hinchliffe: "The adoption by IMO of new guidelines reflecting a fair and pragmatic approach to inspection is also an important additional step."
To this end, the IMO committee adopted guidelines for Port State Control inspectors that they should avoid any undue delays to ships.
However, it is uncertain how the protection formula will be devised. The term "grandfathering" was not used in the final MEPC Resolution and instead the member states requested the IMO Secretariat to provide legal advice on the appropriate legal action for this agreement.
INTERTANKO, the other shipowner group, said that, together with the industry, it will take active roles in the IMO Correspondence Groups established to undertake the review of the type approval guidelines.
IMO&EU NEWS
27 October 2014 - 22:18
Shipowners say they persuaded IMO to ease up on ballast water treatment
SHIPOWNERS say they have made headway in having the UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) ease up on compliance costs in ballast water treatment.
IMO&EU NEWS
27 October 2014 - 22:18
Shipowners say they persuaded IMO to ease up on ballast water treatment
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