Ballast Water Management

                     Ballast Water Management

  International convention for the control and management of ships ballast water and its sediments 

* Adopted 13 Feb 2004

* entered into force  8 Sep 2017

* Aim : To prevent the spread of harmful aquatic organisms from one place to another by establishing standards and procedures for the control and management of ballast water and its sediments.

* Applies to all ships 

* Does not apply to 

war ships , naval auxillary ships 

ship not designed to carry ballast water 

ship having permanent ballast water with sealed tanks

ships only on non commercial service

* All ships 400 GT and above required to carry 

an approved ballast water management plan ( Ships specific )

ballast water record book 

type approval certificate for ships fitted with ballast water treatment plan 

an international ballast water management certificate ( issued by flag state )

* Requirements of ballast water exchange 

    contains two standards 

1) D1 ( Ballast water exchange standard )

2) D2 ( Performance standard - specifies max amount of viable organisms allowed to be discharged )

     1) D1 ( Ballast water exchange standard )

Ships performing ballast water exchange shall do so 

1) An efficiency of  at least  95%  volumetric exchange of ballast water

2) By using flow through method - pumping should be done 3 times of the total amount of ballast water in order to meet the 95% volumetric exchange standard.

* Methods of exchange 

1) Sequential method 

2) flow through method ( during rough weather )

3) Dilution method ( In flow = Out Flow )

2) D2 ( Performance standard - specifies max amount of viable organisms allowed to be discharged )

* Ballast water treatment may include but not limited to 

1) Mechanical filteration and separation 

2) Sterilization 

3) Chemical treatment and biocides etc 

* Specifies that treated and discharged ballast water must have less than 10 viable micro organisms greater than or equal to 50 micrometer in dimensions 

* less than 10 viable micro organisms less than 50 micro meter in dimension and greater than or equal to 10 micrometer in dimension per milli litre.

Discharge of indicator microbes shall not exceed specified concentration 

1) Toxigenic vibrio cholera - less than 1 CFU per 1 gram zooplanktons samples 

2) Escherichia Coli - less than 250 CFU per 100 mili liter

3) Intestinal entero cocci - less than 100 CFU per 100 mili liter 

(Note - CFU = Colong Forming Unit)

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