On 11 September 2012 Denmark ratified the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 (the Ballast Water Management Convention) following Russia’s ratification on March this year. Sweden has also ratified the Convention, while the remaining coastal Baltic countries have indicated their intention to accede to the Convention by 2013 at the latest, according to the HELCOM Executive Secretary, Monika Stankiewicz.
This ratification by Denmark brought the number of countries to have ratified the Convention to 36, which exceeds the number stipulated in its entry-into-force criteria; however, around six per cent of the world’s merchant shipping tonnage is still needed to fulfil the other entry–into-force criterion of 35 per cent tonnage representation.
On 12 September 2012, the ΙMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu, in a keynote address to the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) Conference in London, has called on ship owners to take prompt and decisive action to encourage their flag States to ratify the Ballast Water Management Convention as soon as possible, as well as to implement its provisions with immediate effect. Mr. Sekimizu emphasized the necessity for the this action as he explained that “the BWM Convention was adopted before we had sufficient practical experience of managing ballast water aboard ships, in particular in terms of using treatment systems. Entry into force of the Convention would provide the chance to improve it, by amending it as may be necessary”. He also added that “the Convention was adopted unanimously in 2004 and, since then, all the fourteen sets of required guidelines for its implementation have been adopted. To date, 28 ballast water management systems have been granted Type Approval by their respective Administrations, and dozens of other systems are in various stages of development. The tools for effective implementation of the BWM Convention are, therefore, in place”.
Helsinki Commission’ s persistent work towards the transport and introductions of aliens species to the Baltic Sea has resulted in the ratification of the BMW Convention by Baltic States. As movement of alien species is a global problem, HELCOM is cooperating with its counterparts in the North-East Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, OSPAR and REMPEC, respectively. Joining efforts with other European seas has already resulted in the adoption of guidance for voluntary measures on ballast water exchange by ships engaged in oceanic voyages, according to Ms. Stankiewicz.
As part of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan* all Baltic nations adopted the Road Map Towards Harmonised Implementation and Ratification of the 2004 BWM Convention, in which they all agreed to ratify the Convention no later than 2013 and to designate/identify clear national responsibilities for coordinating the national implementation of the Convention.
The latest HELCOM Project Study on Biological Survey Protocols and Target Species Collection (ALIENS 2), 2012, aims to propose a regionally harmonized method for granting exemptions from ballast water treatment for marine traffic in the Baltic Sea, in the framework of the Guidance adopted by the 2010 HELCOM Ministerial Meeting as part of the HELCOM Ministerial Declaration (HELCOM Guidance to Distinguish Between Unacceptable High Risk Scenarios and Acceptable Low Risk Scenarios –A Risk of Spreading of Alien Species by Ships on Intra-Baltic Ship Voyages).** This project will be instrumental in reducing the risk of transfer of alien species to the Baltic Sea when it enters into force.
The Project and its predecessors have provided much needed information to national administrations, along with providing best practices on how to conduct, evaluate and consult risk assessments as set down in the BWM Convention. Moreover, a recently established joint HELCOM-OSPAR task group on risk assessments will look into joint Baltic and North Atlantic approaches. The Group will have its first meeting in October 2012 and finalise its initial round of work by spring 2013.
Moreover, the Contracting Parties of the Barcelona Convention, the OSPAR Convention and the Helsinki Convention*** adopted the joint HELCOM/OSPAR/REMPEC Ballast Water Guidance****. This Guidance, applied from 1 October 2012 onwards, requires vessels in traffic between the sea areas of the Mediterranean, and the North Atlantic/the Baltic to have a ballast water treatment plan in place, to collect information, as well as to exchange all their ballast water tanks in specific offshore areas prior to port entry. The Guidance, has been recently communicated by IMO in circular BWM.2/Circ.39.
Notes
* The HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, adopted on 15 November 2007 in Krakow, Poland by the HELCOM Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting, is a programme to restore the good ecological status of the Baltic marine environment by 2021, addressing all the major environmental problems affecting it.More specifically, Baltic Countries agreed inter alia on four main segments: (i) Towards a Baltic Sea unaffected by eutrophication, (ii) Towards a Baltic Sea undisturbed by hazardous substances, (iii) Towards a Baltic Sea with maritime activities carried out in an environmentally friendly way and (iv)Towards favourable conservations status of Baltic Sea biodiversity. In order to reach the goal Towards a Baltic Sea with maritime activities carried out in an environmentally friendly way they agreed on eight management objectives: (a) Enforcement of international regulations – no illegal discharges, (b) Safe maritime traffic without accidental pollution, (c) Efficient emergency and response capability, (d) Minimum sewage pollution from ships, (e) No introductions of alien species from ships. (f) Minimum air pollution from ships, (g) Zero-discharge from offshore platforms, (e) Minimum threats from offshore installations.
** See HELCOM Ministerial Declaration on the Implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan, 20 May 2010, Moscow available at: http://www.helcom.fi/stc/files/Moscow2010/AlienSpecies.pdf
***Albania, Algeria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, The Russian Federation, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
**** General Guidance on the Voluntary Interim Application of the D1 Ballast Water Exchange Standard by Vessels Operating Between the Mediterranean Sea and the North-East Atlantic and/or the Baltic Sea (Agreement 2012-04): This Guidance was developed through the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention), the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR Convention) and the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea (Helsinki Convention). It was based on a proposal by the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) on a common approach to the issue of ballast water exchange for ships sailing between the Mediterranean Sea and the North-East Atlantic/Baltic area. According to this Guidance, in order to reduce the risk of non-indigenous species invasion through ballast water, vessels leaving the Mediterranean Sea and proceeding to destinations in the North-East Atlantic or the Baltic Sea (and vice versa) are expected to apply the voluntary guidelines in the Appendix from 1 October 2012. It should also be noted that HELCOM jointly with OSPAR have already previously adopted two sets of guidance for voluntary ballast water exchange in the high seas to reduce the risk of alien species’ transfer (OSPAR/HELCOM General Guidance on the Voluntary Interim Application of the D1 Ballast Water Exchange Standard in the North-East Atlantic, applicable from 1 April 2008, see the IMO Circular BWM.2/Circ.14 and OSPAR/HELCOM General Guidance on the Voluntary Interim Application of the D1 Ballast Water Exchange Standard by vessels leaving the Baltic Sea and transiting through the North-East Atlantic to other destinations), applicable from 1 January 2010, see the IMO Circular BWM.2/Circ.22).
Source: HELCOM Commission
For further information:
http://www.imo.org/MediaCentre/SecretaryGeneral/SpeechesByTheSecretaryGeneral/Pages/ICS2012.aspx
http://www.imo.org/MediaCentre/PressBriefings/Pages/34-ICS-speech.aspx
http://www.helcom.fi/press_office/news_helcom/2012/en_GB/Progress_in_BWM/
About the author
MEPIELAN Centre
MEPIELAN Centre is an international research, training and educational centre established by Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos at the Panteion University of Athens in 2008.
Before its establishment as a University Centre, MEPIELAN operated as a successful international research, training and informational programme (2002-2007) under the scientific direction of Professor Evangelos Raftopoulos and the aegis of the Panteion University of Athens, supported by the Mediterranean Action Plan/UNEP and the Greek Ministry of the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works.
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