The goal of the workshop was to encourage ratification, implementation and enforcement of the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC)
International Maritime Organisation (IMO) underscored the importance of the ratification, implementation and enforcement of the BWMC during a national workshop in Apia, Samoa in March 2023.
IMO said it used presentations, group discussions and role-play exercises to outline actions government officials should take at a national level to ratify, implement and enforce the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 (BWMC).
IMO said the workshop covered an introduction to ballast water management and the BWMC; an explanation of how to understand the obligations of states that are parties to the BWMC; how to undertake compliance monitoring and enforcement through port state control; and how to mitigate risk.
“Key outcomes from the workshop were increased awareness and understanding of the ratification, implementation and enforcement process of the BWMC, its compliance monitoring and enforcement elements, as well as a bigger network of trained experts in ballast water management and control,” IMO said.
The BWMC, which entered into force in 2017, aims to prevent the spread of harmful aquatic organisms in ships’ ballast water from one region to another. It does so by requiring all ships engaged in international voyages to manage their ballast water and sediments to a certain standard, according to a ship-specific management plan. All ships must also carry a ballast water record book and an international ballast water management certificate.
The workshop was delivered through IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme, with support from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme.
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