Maritime News

The eightieth session of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 80) was held from 3 to 7 July 2023.

Regulation B-2 of the BWM Convention requires that a ship shall have onboard a BWRB which shall at least contain the information specified in Appendix II to the Convention (Form of Ballast Water Record Book). The report on the experience-building phase associated with the BWM Convention indicated that the most frequently reported deficiencies by port States and port State control MOUs were related to the entries in the BWRB.

Exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS) – more commonly referred to as scrubbers – are an accepted equivalent measure in complying with the IMO 2020 global sulphur cap. The use of scrubbers has split the shipping industry. Ports around the world are looking at the impact of scrubber use in their waters.

The purpose of this Marine Notice is to provide general information to vessel owners, operators, ports and marinas on the Australian biofouling management requirements, the Anti-fouling and in-water cleaning guidelines, the Australian in-water cleaning standards, and the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 2011 Guidelines for the control and management of ships’ biofouling to minimize the transfer of invasive aquatic species (the Biofouling Guidelines).

The IMO Resolution MEPC.325(75) incorporates amendments to the BWM Convention that enter into force on 1 June 2022. Vessel owners and yards shall therefore observe the new requirement for mandatory commissioning testing at the initial BWMS’s commissioning survey completed on or after 1 June 2022.