Confirmation of entry into force of BWM Convention not expected till early 2016

2015-12-23

Confirmation of entry into force of the Ballast Water Management Convention is not now expected till early 2016 despite a flurry of ratifications in late November.

The number states to have ratified the convention reached 47 with Morocco, Indonesia and Ghana ratifying in November, well over the 30 required. However, whether the 35% threshold of the global fleet has been met remains under question.

Tonnage figures are based on data supplied to the IMO by IHS Maritime & Trade. Although based on tonnage figures the BWM Convention achieved entry into force by a very small margin it also contained some unverified data. Industry sources have indicated that the percentage difference in question is as low as 0.02% to 0.03%.

“In light of this, IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu requested a complete verification of tonnage data as at the time of the deposits by Morocco, Indonesia and Ghana prior to determining whether or not the BWM Convention had indeed met the entry-into-force requirements,” IMO said.

The completion of the verification process is expected to be completed early next year. If it proves that the tonnage from Morocco, Indonesia and Ghana were sufficient the BWM Convention will enter into force one year from 24 November 2015, on 24 November 2016.

Source from : Seatrade Global

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