THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION COMMITTEE,

　

 RECALLING Article 38(a) of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Marine Environment Protection Committee conferred upon it by the international conventions for the prevention and control of marine pollution,

　

 RECALLING ALSO that the International Conference on Ballast Water Management for Ships held in February 2004 adopted the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 (the Ballast Water Management Convention) together with four Conference resolutions,

　

 NOTING that Regulation A-2 of the Ballast Water Management Convention requires that discharge of ballast water shall only be conducted through Ballast Water Management in accordance with the provisions of the Annex to the Convention,

　

 NOTING FURTHER that Regulation B-3.6 of the Ballast Water Management Convention provides that, the requirements of ballast water management standards do not apply to ships that discharge ballast water to a reception facility designed taking into account the Guidelines developed by the Organization for such facilities,

　

 NOTING ALSO that resolution 1 adopted by the International Conference on Ballast Water Management for Ships invited the Organization to develop these Guidelines as a matter of urgency,

　

 HAVING CONSIDERED, at its fifty-fifth session, the draft the Guidelines for ballast water reception facilities (G5) developed by the Ballast Water Working Group, and the recommendation made by the Sub-Committee on Flag State Implementation at its fourteenth session,

　

1. ADOPTS the Guidelines for ballast water reception facilities (G5) as set out in the Annex to this resolution;

　

2. INVITES Governments to apply these Guidelines as soon as possible, or when the Convention becomes applicable to them; and

　

3. AGREES to keep these Guidelines under review.

　

ANNEX

　

　

1.1 The purpose of these guidelines is to provide guidance for the provision of facilities for the reception of ballast water as referred to in Regulation B-3.6 of the Convention. These guidelines are not intended to require that a Party shall provide such facilities. The guidance is also intended to encourage a worldwide uniform interface between such facilities and the ships without prescribing dedicated shoreside reception plants.

　

　

1.2 These guidelines apply to ballast water reception facilities referred to in the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (the Convention), Regulation B-3.6.

　

1.3 These guidelines do not apply to reception facilities for sediment referred to in Article 5 and Regulation B-5 of the Convention.

　

　

2.1 For the purposes of these guidelines, the definitions in Article 1 and Regulation A-1 of the Convention apply.

　

　

3.1 A ballast water reception facility should be capable of receiving ballast water from ships so as not to create a risk to the environment, human health, property and resources arising from the release to the environment of Harmful Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens. A facility should provide pipelines, manifolds, reducers, equipment and other resources to enable, as far as practicable, all ships wishing to discharge ballast water in a port to use the facility. The facility should provide adequate equipment for mooring ships using the facility and when applicable safe anchorage.

　

3.2 Each Party shall report to the Organization and, where appropriate, make available to other Parties, information on the availability and location of any reception facilities for the environmentally safe disposal of ballast water.

　

　

4.1 When considering the requirements of these facilities many factors will have to be taken into account, these should include but not be limited to:

　

　

5.1 Disposal of ballast water from a reception facility should not create a risk to the environment, human health, property and resources arising from the release or transfer to the environment of Harmful Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens.

　

5.2 Treatment methods applied to the ballast water should not produce effects that may create a risk to the environment, human health, property and resources.

　

5.3 Where ballast water is disposed into the aquatic environment it should at least meet the ballast water performance standard specified in Regulation D-2 of the Convention. Disposal to other environments should be to a standard acceptable to the Port State. Such a standard should not create a risk to the environment, human health, property and resources arising from the release or transfer to the environment of Harmful Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens.

　

　

6.1 Ballast water discharged from a ship should be accepted by the ballast water reception facility including its suspended matter.

　

　

7.1 Details of the capabilities and any capacity limitations of a treatment facility should be made available to the ships that intend to use the facility.

　

7.2 The details made available to ships should include but not be limited to:

　

7.4 The facility should provide ship to shore connections that are compatible with a recognized standard such as those in the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) "Recommendations for Oil Tankers Manifolds and Associated Equipment". It is recognized that this standard was originally produced for oil tankers however the general principles in this standard can be applied to connections for ballast transfer on other ship types in particular the sections related to flanges and connection methods.

　

　

8.1 Personnel in charge of and those employed in the provision of a ballast water reception facility including the treatment and disposal of ballast water should have received adequate instruction. Frequent training should include but not be limited to:

　

8.2 The training should be organized by the manager or the operator of the reception facility and delivered by suitably qualified professionals.

　

 I would like to start by thanking Mr Brian Elliott, the Review Group and the Secretariat for their hard work and long hours. Unfortunately despite this, we find the outcome rather unsatisfactory and I have a number of points to make.

　

 First, and definitely foremost, in support of the Secretary General's opening remarks, we encourage the earliest possible ratification of the Convention - its early entry into force will enable us to face up properly to the now pressing problems.

　

 The industry needs certainty now, and to engage in a further review at MEPC 56, as suggested in the Report, is to deny the industry any such certainty. In our view the necessary decisions must be taken here, and now.

　

 ICS made very clear its concerns with the Ballast Water Convention at the Diplomatic Conference, arguing, amongst other things, against the fixed dates. As a result of the discussion, the review process was agreed upon - specifically to question whether in fact suitable treatment equipment would be approved and commercially available in time to be fitted, during construction, for ships to be delivered from January 2009. These ships are already ordered and construction has started.

　

 We have been actively engaged in the review group and would summarise its conclusion on the question of availability to be "yes ... probably ... but". Annex 5 of the report with its tabulation of concerns raised by administrations themselves is particularly telling. Our grave concern that suitable equipment may not be available has not been addressed and we still lack the certainty, that we need, to brief shipowners and shipbuilders.

　

 It seems to us that we have three options:

　

Option 1. To delay the first operative date for the application of Regulation D-2 by at least two years. This leaves intact the requirement for ships to exchange ballast water. This is our preferred option and the one that we believed had been recognized at the Diplomatic Conference and at MEPC 54. You will recall that a three year lead time was built into the review process to reflect the time between ordering a ship and its delivery; this lead time is now being eroded with every passing day. This Option equates to the Review Group's Option 1 but we cannot afford to wait until the entry into force criteria has been almost met. This gives the industry no certainty at all.

　

Option 2. Is to offer some form of exemption (as noted in the Review Group report) to ships required to comply from January 2009 but for which no suitable equipment is available.

　

Option 3. Has not been identified in the Report but we suggest that we resolve at this meeting (or at the very latest at MEPC 56) that ships built up to a date yet to be determined by this Committee would not be required to comply with the treatment requirements. Once again the requirements for ballast water exchange would be unaffected by this resolution.

　

 ICS fully embraces the need to stop the spread of invasive species in ballast water but the current route which does not adequately recognize the non-availability of compliance machinery is not the way to solve the environmental problem. We can assure the Committee that shipowners would by far prefer to fit treatment equipment than to commit to long term ballast water exchange routines.

　

 If one of the three options just mentioned cannot be taken up by this meeting of the Committee then we request member States to explain to us how compliance with the Convention can be achieved. We need this information now to pass on to shipowners that have already ordered ships for delivery in 2009. We further invite any State providing this advice to also indicate when they expect to ratify the Convention.