Bwm Systems News

De Nora Marine Technologies signed a formal service subcontracting agreement with Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine (N-KOM), one of the largest shipyard and offshore repair facilities in the Middle East, located at Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar. The agreement will expand service convenience for De Nora Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS) installed on vessels trading in the Gulf region.The subcontracting agreement is designed to provide strategic support to shipowners and operators by establishing an after-sales station…

ABS published its 2019 Ballast Water Management Advisory providing critical advice to owners in advance of the five-year window beginning September 2019, requiring retrofits of BWM systems on existing ships.“We anticipate roughly 6,000 vessels per year over the next five years will need to be retrofitted with ballast water management systems to meet the revised IMO compliance dates,” said William Burroughs, ABS Ballast Water Management Lead. “We recognize this is a large portion of the fleet and will only be achievable through proper planning and effective project management and execution. This Advisory provides in-depth guidance to help owners understand the complexity of retrofitting ballast water management systems…

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), a global provider of classification and technical advisory services to the marine and offshore industries, published its 2019 Ballast Water Management Advisory providing critical advice to owners in advance of the five-year window beginning September 2019, requiring retrofits of BWM systems on existing ships.“We anticipate roughly 6,000 vessels per year over the next five years will need to be retrofitted with ballast water management systems to meet the revised IMO compliance dates,” said William Burroughs, ABS Ballast Water Management Lead.“We recognize this is a large portion of the fleet and will only be achievable through proper planning and effective project management and execution.

The global provider of classification and technical advisory services to the marine and offshore industries ABS published its updated Best Practices for Operation of Ballast Water Management (BWM) Systems Report, offering fresh insight on best practices to overcome key challenges with selecting, installing and operating a BWM system.First published in 2017, the updated 2019 Report captures the key discussion items, lessons-learned and valuable insight gathered and shared during its global program of industry workshops, shaped by questionnaires from owners and operators of vessels with BWM systems.“Our engagement with the industry has helped us gain a deep understanding of the challenges from around the globe…

ABS and industry collaboration identify key challenges with ballast water management systems (BWMS) and provide insight into installation and operational best practices.ABS recently issued questionnaires and hosted Ballast Water Management (BWM) Workshops, receiving feedback from across the globe from shipowners and operators with BWM systems installed onboard their vessels.“As ships come into compliance with ballast water management requirements, it is important to consider some of the common system challenges and best practices for operating these systems,” said ABS Senior Vice President for Engineering and Technology, Derek Novak.“The responses we received from the owners and operators who attended our workshops helped us gain a broad industry perspective from around the globe…

With compliance deadlines on the horizon for many shipowners, the study revealed a critical need for owners to start their technology-selection process, and to resist buying BWM systems based on initial price alone.ABS has just completed its second comprehensive survey of the shipping industry’s progress towards global compliance with ballast-water regulations, finding just over a third of installed management systems (BWMS) to be fully operational.The survey’s findings, which were supported by a series of workshops in New Orleans…

Extensions, type approvals and next steps were all prominent on the agenda.September’s Ballast Water Management and Technology North America conference saw USCG staff from the Office of Operating and Environmental Standards and the Marine Safety Center giving conference attendees an update on various aspects of the Coast Guard’s ballast water program. Following is a recap of those presentations for our readers who were unable to attend:Ms. Regina Bergner and Mr. Matthew Reudelhuber with the Office of Operating and Environmental Standards, and Lt.

On the implementation of the 0.5% sulphur cap for ships’ bunkers from 2020, International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners (INTERCARGO) is promoting the consideration of transitional issues such as the availability and safety aspects of compliant fuels, and incidents of non-availability of low sulphur bunkers at certain ports. INTERCARGO encourages the effective implementation of the “2020 Sulphur Cap” regulation yet with a pragmatic approach. A reasonable and measured enforcement of the Regulation during an initial transitional period would thus be welcome instead. INTERCARGOraises its concerns about the practical - technical and operational - challenges faced by shipowners in achieving compliance from 01 Jan 2020, given the bunkers’ supply landscape and widespread uncertainty.

Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) 71 was a very busy week and ship owners can now benefit from having a firm view of the regulatory timeline for complying with the latest global require-ments for managing the ballast water from their vessels. Unfortunately, the timeline remains very crowded and for owners with ships trading to and from the U.S., compliance is more complicated. While some deadlines were eased to reflect the fact that many dates from the original BWM Convention had lapsed while consensus was being reached…

ABS published a report providing insights into how industry is progressing with ballast water management (BWM) systems. Based on input provided by owners and operators with BWM systems on board their vessels, the report covers a range of topics, including installation, commissioning and operations of BWM systems. “It is important to share with all stakeholders the outcome of the ABS organized workshop on the issues and best practices with ballast water management systems,” says ABS Executive Vice President for Global Marine Dr. Kirsi Tikka. To form an accurate picture of the current progress with BWM compliance, owners and operators with installed ballast water management systems were surveyed and invited to participate in the workshop.

Latest developments on the entry into force of the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention took centre stage at the 8th International Conference on Ballast Water Management (24-25 April) in Singapore. International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Emeritus, Koji Sekimizu, and Chief Technical Advisor of the GEF-UNDP-IMO GloBallast Partnerships Programme, Jose Matheickal, delivered keynote addresses at the event. Among other key issues, participants discussed the revised guidelines for the approval of Ballast Water Management Systems (G8), challenges facing Port State Control with regards to Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement (CME) and the timeline for installation of BWM systems.

ABS, a provider of classification and technical services to the marine and offshore industries, hosted a Ballast Water Management (BWM) Workshop for ship owners with BWM systems installed onboard their vessels. The full-day session covered a range of issues, including installation, commissioning and operational challenges associated with BWM systems. “This workshop is another example of how ABS serves as a trusted advisor and independent voice, facilitating dialogue and discussions around the most pressing technical and operational challenges…

Four new 3,300 TEU containerships being built for the French shipping group CMA CGM will feature Wärtsilä Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS). This is the third series of vessels for which the same owner has selected the Wärtsilä BWMS solution, making a total of 10 ships in all. These latest vessels are being built at the Cosco Zhoushan shipyard in China, and the contract with Wärtsilä was signed in the fourth quarter of 2016. The BWMS system chosen for these vessels is a 500m3 per hour capacity Wärtsilä Aquarius UV system. This uses a simple two-stage process involving filtration and ultra-violet (UV) irradiation. Delivery of the equipment to the yard is scheduled to begin in July of this year.

It seems like a lifetime coming, but the IMO International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM) has been approved and will enter into force on September 8, 2017. Deemed as an environmental necessity, it creates an enormous operational challenge for the maritime industry. As ship owners, system installers and BWM system manufacturers alike prepare for the many challenges associated with implementation, it would be wise to more closely evaluate the real (and sometimes hidden) risks to system operators and manufacturers.

Shipping confidence improved for the third successive quarter in the three months to end-November 2016, according to the latest Shipping Confidence Survey from international accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens. In November 2016, the average confidence level expressed by respondents was 5.6 out of 10, equaling the highest rating since August 2015. All main categories of respondent were more confident than in August 2016, when the overall rating was 5.4. Charterers’ confidence this time increased by 2 points, to 6.8, the highest figure in the life of the survey for such respondents.

With the accession by Finland to the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 (better known as the Ballast Water Management or BWM Convention), there are now sufficient ratifications for the Convention to enter into force. Entry into force will occur on 8 September 2017. It has been an agonizingly slow process for a convention that was adopted with such high hopes. Starting in the late 1970s as vessels became larger and faster…

Liberia is leading a move to amend the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC) which will allow certain ships additional time beyond 2020 in order to ensure that adequate new ballast water management (BWM) systems are commercially available, along with the necessary dockyard space for installation. Following representations made by Liberia at last week’s meeting of IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC70) in London, David Pascoe, Senior Vice-President, Operations & Standards at LISCR, the US-based manager of the Liberian Registry, says, “Against significant odds, Liberia and other industry representatives at IMO were…

The Liberian Maritime Administration is to introduce a proposal to the meeting of the IMO Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC70) in London on 24 October to allow certain ships additional time beyond 2020 to install adequate ballast water management systems as required under the Ballast Water Management Convention, which comes into force in September 2017. The proposal, says Liberia, would ensure that enough adequate systems and sufficient dockyard space are available. With effect from 8 September, 2017, most oceangoing ships engaged in worldwide operations will be required to install a ballast water management (BWM) system approved in accordance with IMO guidelines.

On October 5, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a 65-page decision holding that, for the most part, the 2013 Vessel General Permit (VGP) promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was arbitrary, capricious and not in accordance with the law. The court declined, though, to vacate the VGP, but allowed it to remain in effect until the EPA issues a new VGP. The 2013 VGP had adopted, almost completely, the standards established in the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments…

Wärtsilä Corporation, has received an order for ballast water management systems (BWMS) for three new container ships being built for a major European shipping company at the Jinhai Shipyard in China. The vessels will be fitted with Wärtsilä Aquarius UV systems, with delivery to the first vessel scheduled for the end of 2015, and for the other two ships during 2016. This latest contract follows the order placed last year from the same company, where Wärtsilä BWMS equipment was installed into three 2100 TEU container ships built in Asia, and which were delivered in December 2014. Each of the three vessels will be fitted with a 500m3 capacity system, which uses filtration and medium pressure UV disinfection treatments.

Korean Register (KR) - an IACS member classification society – announces that it has been accepted by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) as an Independent Laboratory (IL) to undertake tests, inspections, and evaluations for Ballast Water Management Systems. KR has been accepted by the USCG, as an Independent Laboratory, to type approve ballast water management systems in accordance with the US Code of Federal Regulation. The society is the first in Asia and the second in the world (outside US) to gain this authorization. To prevent the introduction and spread of non-indigenous species contained in ships’ ballast water, IMO has developed the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC) which will become effective as soon as it has been ratified by the required number of states.

Korean Register (KR) - an IACS member classification society – has been accepted by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) as an Independent Laboratory (IL) to undertake tests, inspections and evaluations for ballast water management systems. KR has been accepted by the USCG, as an Independent Laboratory, to type approve ballast water management systems in accordance with the U.S. Code of Federal Regulation. The society is the first in Asia and the second in the world (outside U.S.) to gain this authorization.

A series of eight new 33,000 DWT chemical tankers, currently under construction in Asia, will feature Wärtsilä Aquarius UV Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS) each of which is certified for explosion proof (EX) requirements. This means that the BWMS units can be installed in Zone 1 hazardous areas. It is an International Maritime Organization (IMO) requirement that the BWMS for ships having hazardous areas on board must be EX-proof certified. This contract, which was signed in January, is the first EX-system delivery since the Wärtsilä Aquarius UV system was granted EX-certification in spring 2014. Each of the eight vessels will have two Wärtsilä Aquarius UV systems installed.