The ballast water issue continues to be a hot topic as, although it has yet to come into force, there is a good deal of uncertainty about the position when it does. According to Jonathan Spremulli technical director, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) did a lot of work at and prior to MEPC 67 in terms of lobbying to get the G8 ballast water management system (BWMS) approval guidelines re-opened and that was agreed. The ICS presented, with the co-sponsors, a draft resolution to facilitate the entry into force of the convention and highlighted a number of issues of concern to shipowners including the need to make the BWMS approval process more robust in order to ensure the efficacy of approved systems.
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