Regulations

The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 (BWM Convention), entered into force in September 2017 and has, to date, been ratified by 79 countries, representing 80.94% of world merchant shipping tonnage.
All ships including submersibles, floating craft/platforms, FSUs and FPSOs) are to manage their ballast water in accordance with an approved Ballast Water Management Plan and record such management in a Ballast Water Record Book in accordance with the provisions of the Convention based on the following implementation schedule:

D-1 standard

The D-1 standard requires ships to conduct an exchange of ballast water such that at least 95% of water by volume is exchanged far away from the coast.

D-2 standard

The D-2 standard specifies that ships can only discharge ballast water that meets the following criteria:

  • less than 10 viable organisms per cubic meter which are greater than or equal to 50 micrometers in minimum dimension;
  • less than 10 viable organisms per milliliter which are between 10 micrometers and 50 micrometers in minimum dimension;
  • less than 1 colony-forming unit (cfu) per 100 milliliters of Toxicogenic Vibrio cholerae;
  • less than 250 cfu per 100 millilitres of Escherichia coli; and
  • less than 100 cfu per 100 milliliters of Intestinal Enterococci.

    • USCG:

    US coast guard prohibits ship to discharge untreated ballast water in to the US water.

    A vessel that discharges ballast water in waters of the U.S. after its original compliance date must comply with the requirements under 33 CFR 151.1512 or 151.2035 for approved BWM methods

    U.S. and foreign flag commercial vessels that are equipped with ballast water tanks and operate in waters of the United States shall comply with the BWM regulatory requirements.

    Install and operate a BWMS that has been approved by the Coast Guard under 46 CFR part 162 if the vessel discharges ballast water in waters of the United States

    Latest USCG type approvedl BWTS list

     Type Approval Certificate

     Issue Date 

     Expiration Date 

     Previous Versions 

     162.060/1/2 (Optimarin)

     25FEB19

     02DEC21

     /1/0, /1/1

     162.060/2/3 (Alfa Laval)

     04APR19

     23DEC21

     /2/0, /2/1, /2/2

     162.060/3/3 (OceanSaver)

     18OCT17

     23DEC21

     /3/0, /3/1, /3/2

     162.060/4/2 (Sunrui)

     09JUN20

     06JUN22

     /4/0, /4/1

     162.060/5/1 (Ecochlor)

     26APR18

     10AUG22

     /5/0

     162.060/6/3 (ERMA FIRST) 

     13FEB20

     18OCT22

     /6/0, /6/1, /6/2

     162.060/7/1 (Techcross) 

     14JUN19

     05JUN23

     /7/0

     162.060/8/1 (Samsung) 

     20JUL18

     15JUN23

     /8/0

     162.060/9/2 (BIO-UV) 

     03MAR20

     20JUN23

     /9/0, /9/1

     162.060/10/2 (Wärtsilä)

     27MAY20

     30AUG23

     /10/0, /10/1

     162.060/11/2 (HHI)

     17APR20

     26OCT23

     /11/0, /11/1

     162.060/12/1 (Headway)

     05MAY20

     06NOV23

     /12/0

     162.060/13/2 (JFE)

     10MAR20

     13NOV23

     /13/0, /13/1

     162.060/14/0 (Panasia)

     14DEC18

     14DEC23

     

     162.060/15/2 (De Nora)

     04MAY20

     19DEC23

     /15/0, /15/1

     162.060/16/0 (Envirocleanse) 

     01FEB19

     01FEB24

     

     162.060/17/1 (DESMI)

     01JUL19

     16APR24

     /17/0

     162.060/18/1 (Wärtsilä)

     27MAY20

     02MAY24

     /18/0

     162.060/19/1 (Alfa Laval)

     06JUL20

     23DEC21

     /19/0

     162.060/20/0 (Cathelco)

     25JUN19

     25JUN24

     

     162.060/21/0 (COSCO)

     09SEP19

     09SEP24

     

     162.060/22/0 (HHI)

     07OCT19

     07OCT24

     

     162.060/23/1 (Miura)

     01JUL20

     28OCT24

     /23/0

     162.060/24/0 (HANLA)

     05NOV19

     05NOV24

     

     162.060/25/0 (Miura)

     08JAN20

     08JAN25

     

     162.060/26/0 (BAWAT)

     04MAR20

     04MAR25

     

     162.060/27/0 (Panasia)

     19MAR20

     14DEC23

     

     162.060/28/0 (NK)

     23MAR20

     23MAR25

     

     162.060/29/0 (NK)

     23MAR20

     23MAR25

     

     162.060/30/0 (Hyde)

     29APR20

     29APR25

     

     162.060/31/0 (Miura)

     07MAY20

     07MAY25

     

     162.060/32/0 (Techcross)

     11MAY20

     11MAY25

     

     162.060/33/0 (Semb-Eco)

     27MAY20

     27MAY25

     

     162.060/34/0 (Kuraray)

     24JUN20

     24JUN25