Following Finland's accession of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention), IMO has confirmed that the Convention will enter into force on 8th of September 2017.

to: Owners / Managers / Operators / Surveyors / Flag Administrations

Following Finland's accession of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’
Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention), IMO has confirmed that the Convention will enter into force
on 8th of September 2017.


Finland's agreement is said to bring the combined tonnage of the Convention's 52 contracting states to 35.14% of the
world's merchant shipping fleet. The BWM Convention states that will enter into force 12 months after a minimum of
30 states, representing 35% of world merchant shipping tonnage had ratified the agreement.

"This is a truly significant milestone for the health of our planet," said IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim.

The aim of the BWM Convention is to engage States to minimise and ultimately eliminate the transfer of harmful
aquatic organisms and pathogens through the control and management of sea ballast water and sediments.

The BWM Convention apply to all ships except:
- ships not designed or constructed to carry ballast water
- ships operating exclusively in waters under the jurisdiction of a Party, unless the party determines that the
discharge of ballast water from such ships would impair or damage their environment
- warships, naval auxiliary or other ships owned or operated by a Party
- ships with permanent ballast water not subject to discharge.

All ships will be required by 8th of September 2017 to carry on board:
- a “Ballast Water Management Plan” approved by the Administration or the Recognized Organization (RO),
- a “Ballast Water Record Book” for the recording of each operation concerning ballast water management;
and
- an “International Ballast Water Management Certificate” with a five year validity and subject to annual,
intermediate and renewal surveys. For those flag States that have not ratified the Convention, will be issuing
an “International Ballast Water Management Statement of Compliance”.

All vessels must be installed with a Ballast Water Management System for the treatment of ballast water before
discharged is made. As per the IMO Resolution A.1088(28) a schedule has been implemented for the installation of
BWM treatment technology. This states that existing ships must be installed with a BWM treatment technology at the
“first IOPP renewal survey after the entry into force of the Convention”. Therefore existing ships must be retrofitted
with a BWM treatment technology at the first IOPP renewal survey after 8th of September 2017. For ships
constructed after the entry into force date, will have to be compliant on delivery.

   



Act now


Ship-owners / Managers are recommended to take action for the implementation of the Convention’s requirements.

Ship Owners / Managers must prepare and submit to Engineering Department the BWM Plan as soon as possible, to
avoid any problems or delays due to the submission of a great number of plans in the very close period to the entry
into force of the Convention.

In addition, survey department will start from January 2017 to conduct initial surveys and issue the applicable
certificate to the ship. An initial survey can be carried out on board after the BWM Plan has been reviewed and
approved on behalf of the flag State. In case the BWM Plan has not been reviewed and approved before the initial
survey, Engineering Department will be issuing a letter confirming that the BWM Plan has been received and is under
review.

Ship owners / Managers must start considering the installation of a BWM treatment system on board their ships. In
any case, each ship must be installed with a BWM treatment system by the first IOPP survey after 8th of September
2017. In case a BWM treatment system is installed after the approval of BWM Plan, the Plan must be re-submitted to
Engineering Department for re-approval taking into account the installation of the treatment plant (i.e. Regulation D-
2)

CONTACT POINTS DATED 30.09.2016

MSC-MEPC.6/Circ.14
30 September 2016
ANNEX 2
LIST OF NATIONAL OPERATIONAL CONTACT POINTS
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RECEIPT, TRANSMISSION AND PROCESSING OF
URGENT REPORTS ON INCIDENTS INVOLVING HARMFUL SUBSTANCES,
INCLUDING OIL FROM SHIPS TO COASTAL STATES
1 The following information is provided to enable compliance with Regulation 37 of
MARPOL Annex I which, inter alia, requires that the Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan
(SOPEP) shall contain a list of authorities or persons to be contacted in the event of a
pollution incident involving such substances. Requirements for oil pollution emergency plans
and relevant oil pollution reporting procedures are contained in Articles 3 and 4 of the 1990
OPRC Convention.

2 This information is also provided to enable compliance with Regulation 17 of
MARPOL Annex II which, inter alia, requires that the shipboard marine pollution emergency
plans for oil and/or noxious liquid substances shall contain a list of authorities or persons to
be contacted in the event of a pollution incident involving such substances. In this context,
requirements for emergency plans and reporting for hazardous and noxious substances are
also contained in Article 3 of the 2000 OPRC-HNS Protocol.
3 Resolution MEPC.54(32), as amended by resolution MEPC.86(44), on the SOPEP
Guidelines and resolution MEPC.85(44), as amended by resolution MEPC.137(53), on the
Guidelines for the development of Shipboard Marine Pollution Emergency Plans for Oil
and/or Noxious Liquid Substances adopted by the IMO require that these shipboard pollution
emergency plans should include, as an appendix, the list of agencies or officials of
administrations responsible for receiving and processing reports. Such list is developed and
up-dated by the Organization in compliance with Article 8 (Reports on incidents involving
harmful substances) and Protocol I (Provisions concerning Reports on Incidents Involving
Harmful Substances) of the MARPOL Convention. Under Article 8 of the MARPOL
Convention, each Party to the Convention shall notify the Organization with complete details
of authorities responsible for receiving and processing reports on incidents for circulation to
other Parties and Member States of the Organization. Attention is also drawn to both
Guidelines which stipulate that "in the absence of a listed focal point, or should any undue
delay be experienced in contacting the responsible authority by direct means, the master
should be advised to contact the nearest coastal radio station, designated ship movement
reporting station or rescue co-ordination centre (RCC) by the quickest available means".
4 The "List of national operational contact points responsible for the receipt,

1: North American phone calling codes

1: North American Numbering Plan Area

Countries within NANP (North American Numbering Plan) administered areas are assigned area codes as if they were all within one country. The codes below in format +1 XXX represent area code XXX within the +1 NANP zone – not a separate country code.

The North American Numbering Plan Area includes:

• +1 –  Canada
• +1 –  United States, including United States territories:
  • +1 340 –  United States Virgin Islands
  • +1 670 –  Northern Mariana Islands
  • +1 671 –  Guam
  • +1 684 –  American Samoa
  • +1 787 / 939 –  Puerto Rico
• +1 Many, but not all, Caribbean nations and some Caribbean Dutch and British Overseas Territories:
  • +1 242 –  Bahamas
  • +1 246 –  Barbados
  • +1 264 –  Anguilla
  • +1 268 –  Antigua and Barbuda
  • +1 284 –  British Virgin Islands
  • +1 345 –  Cayman Islands
  • +1 441 –  Bermuda
  • +1 473 –  Grenada
  • +1 649 –  Turks and Caicos Islands
  • +1 664 –  Montserrat
  • +1 721 –  Sint Maarten
  • +1 758 –  Saint Lucia
  • +1 767 –  Dominica
  • +1 784 –  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  • +1 809 / 829 / 849 –  Dominican Republic
  • +1 868 –  Trinidad and Tobago
  • +1 869 –  Saint Kitts and Nevis
  • +1 876 –  Jamaica

2: mostly Africa phone calling codes

2: mostly Africa

(but also Aruba, Faroe Islands, Greenland and British Indian Ocean Territory)

• +20 –  Egypt
• +210 – unassigned
• +211 –  South Sudan
• +212 –  Morocco
• +213 –  Algeria
• +214 – unassigned
• +215 – unassigned
• +216 –  Tunisia
• +217 – unassigned
• +218 –  Libya
• +219 – unassigned
• +220 –  Gambia
• +221 –  Senegal
• +222 –  Mauritania
• +223 –  Mali
• +224 –  Guinea
• +225 –  Ivory Coast
• +226 –  Burkina Faso
• +227 –  Niger
• +228 –  Togo
• +229 –  Benin
• +230 –  Mauritius
• +231 –  Liberia
• +232 –  Sierra Leone
• +233 –  Ghana
• +234 –  Nigeria
• +235 –  Chad
• +236 –  Central African Republic
• +237 –  Cameroon
• +238 –  Cape Verde
• +239 –  São Tomé and Príncipe
• +240 –  Equatorial Guinea
• +241 –  Gabon
• +242 –  Republic of the Congo
• +243 –  Democratic Republic of the Congo
• +244 –  Angola
• +245 –  Guinea-Bissau
• +246 –  British Indian Ocean Territory
• +247 –  Ascension Island
• +248 –  Seychelles
• +249 –  Sudan
• +250 –  Rwanda
• +251 –  Ethiopia
• +252 –  Somalia
• +253 –  Djibouti
• +254 –  Kenya
• +255 –  Tanzania
  • +255 24 –  Zanzibar, in place of never-implemented +259
• +256 –  Uganda
• +257 –  Burundi
• +258 –  Mozambique
• +259 – unassigned, was intended for Zanzibar but never implemented – see +255 Tanzania
• +260 –  Zambia
• +261 –  Madagascar
• +262 –  Réunion
  • +262 269 / 639 –  Mayotte (land / mobile, formerly with +269 Comoros)
• +263 –  Zimbabwe
• +264 –  Namibia
• +265 –  Malawi
• +266 –  Lesotho
• +267 –  Botswana
• +268 –  Swaziland
• +269 –  Comoros (Mayotte was here but moved to +262 Réunion)
• +27 –  South Africa
• +28x – unassigned (Reserved for country code expansion)
• +290 –  Saint Helena
  • +290 8 –  Tristan da Cunha
• +291 –  Eritrea
• +292 – unassigned
• +293 – unassigned
• +294 – unassigned
• +295 – discontinued (was assigned to San Marino, see +378)
• +296 – unassigned
• +297 –  Aruba
• +298 –  Faroe Islands
• +299 –  Greenland