5 Parties shall not apply
any requirement on a ship
relating to ballast water management
options where
the ship's ballast water management
plan indicates it
is unsafe or the master otherwise
reasonably
determines that undertaking such
an operation would
jeopardize the safety or stability
of the ship, its
crew, or its passengers. The
master shall record any
reason for not undertaking ballast
water exchange in
the ship's log.
Proposed amendments Regulation 4.5
The United Kingdom proposes:
"5 Parties shall
waive any requirement under Reg
4(1) above, relating to ballast
water management
options, where the ship's ballast
water management
plan indicates it is unsafe or
the Master otherwise
reasonably determines that undertaking
such an option
would jeopardise the safety of
the ship, its crew, or
its passengers. The Master shall
record any reason
for not undertaking ballast water
exchange in the
ship 's log. Port States may
verify the Master's
decision by examination of the
ballast water
management plan in conjunction
with weather records,
and ,may inform the Flag
Administration of any disagreement."
19
19 Reg 4(5) requires Parties to 'waive
any
requirement" whereas under Reg 7(3)(c)
Port States shall
inform ships of 'alternative action and
appropriate control
measures'. there is a contradiction between
the two in that
4(5) implies a waiver without qualification,
whereas 7(3)(c)
implies that Port States may impose alternative
requirements.
This is an important issue because Port
States which impose
onerous alternatives to deep sea exchange
will put ships
under commercial pressure to exchange
ballast when it may not
be safe to do so. On the other hand a
waiver without
alternative requirement may be abused,
and would limit the
right of Parties to impose necessary
controls in waters under
their jurisdiction.
Furthermore, ships which encounter alternative
requirements
will be encouraged to make modifications
or install equipment
to enable them to comply with Reg 4(1)
more frequently, and
under poorer weather conditions. Port
States which waive
requirements to exchange ballast will
enoourage ships to
defer modifircations which would enhance
their ability to
exchange ballast or to treat ballast
water.
A balance needs to be found, and it is
suggested that in Reg
4(5), Parties are given powers to verify
the Master's
decision by analysis of the ballast water
management plan and
weather records, and may notify the Flag
Administration of
any disagreement.
It is also suggested that Parties shall
only apply
alternative requirements which have been
established in
accordance with the proposed Reg 4(4)(b),
and so a reference
to Reg 4(5) has been included in the
proposal for Reg 4(4)(b)
above.
