Water Standard News

Holland Shipyards has asked Hatenboer-Water to supply two Tethys reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment  units for diving support barges scheduled to be deployed along the Gabon coast. The order marks the first project for Tethys, the new Hatenboer-Water standard water maker series for compact applications. The RO units are to be installed aboard two diving support barges currently under construction in the Holland Shipyards’ site in Hardinxveld-Giessendam, the Netherlands. Each unit will provide drinking water at a capacity rate of up to 6 m3 per day.

AWO Pushes VIDA as the solution to the confusing patchwork of federal and state regulations that makes compliance unnecessarily complicated and costly. Even as the ballast water treatment issue becomes more and more confusing – both here and abroad – a united coalition of maritime stakeholders has expressed strong support for S.373, also known as amendment number 3170 (for the current energy bill). The law, known simply as the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA), would establish a nationally uniform and environmentally sound standard for ballast water and other vessel discharges, in lieu of the current overlapping patchwork of federal and state regulations that makes compliance complicated, confusing and costly.

Too few icebreakers and lack of a second Poe-sized lock threaten shipping on the Great Lakes and St. Insufficient U.S. and Canadian icebreakers and reliance on a single Poe-sized lock to connect Lake Superior to the Lower Lakes and Seaway threaten the future of shipping on America’s Fourth Sea Coast warns Great Lakes Maritime Task Force (GLMTF) in its 2015 Annual Report released today. “Another near arctic winter significantly impacted navigation, and then a 20-day closure of…

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Hyde Marine’s chemical-free, IMO Type Approved ballast water treatment solution packs performance in a smaller footprint. That’s good news for small vessel operators who may soon find themselves impacted by a problem that previously was thought to be a “bluewater” issue. The notion that ballast water treatment and invasive species are both strictly the domain of big, bluewater liners coming from the Far East and other exotic locales quickly went out the porthole last November when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its long-awaited, updated draft Vessel General Permit (VGP) rule. The new rules potentially bring regulations to bear on vessels as small as 79 feet LOA and others, depending on service and routing.

In comments filed today with the Environmental Protection Agency, DEC Commissioner Joseph Martens indicated that New York will pursue a uniform, national ballast water standard that will leave in place the EPA's current standards in New York for the remainder of EPA's current Vessel General Permit through December 2013. "New York remains concerned about the introduction and spread of invasive species in the state's waterways and we hope that a strong national solution can be achieved," DEC Commissioner Joe Martens said. "At the same time, shipping and maritime activity is critical to New York state and international commerce.

Draft USCG ballast water rule now finalized, according to OMB. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed its review of the Coast Guard's Ballast Water Discharge Standard regulations in accordance with Executive Order 12866, and changed its designation from an Interim Final Rule to a Final Rule on February 24, 2012. The Coast Guard is preparing it for publication in the Federal Register, and expects to complete the administrative process within 30 days. John Morris of the U.S. Coast Guard's Environmental Standards Division said in a prepared statement, "We are not at liberty to discuss details of the rule until it is actually published, but wanted to clear up confusion about its status.

Good news from New york on their local ballast water standard is tempered by more of nothing from Washington. On the same day that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) issued a press release stating that it will pursue a uniform national ballast water standard by  leaving in place the EPA’s current standards in New York for the remainder of EPA’s current Vessel General Permit through December 2013, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) declared that its review of the US Coast Guard draft interim final rule on standards for living organisms in ships’ ballast water discharged in US waters had been extended. No guidance was given on how much longer industry will have to wait for the extended review to be completed.

Yesterday’s well-attended ballast water policy teleconference briefing by the Canadian Minister of Transport served notice that Canada has no intention of allowing the state of New York to dictate ballast water regulations, nor impede commerce on the St. Laurence Seaway. The message delivered by Canada’s Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, Pierre Poilievre, was simple enough: we do not agree with the state of New York on ballast water issues and we will not allow our ocean commerce to suffer because of it. The teleconference, broadcast from Ottawa, provided a briefing on ballast water requirements on the St. Lawrence Seaway.