One third of ballast water treatment systems fail PSC


inspections


Over 30% of all installed ballast water treatment systems fail Port State Control D-2 compliance inspections despite 95% of systems having successfully passed commissioning tests.


Information submitted by Global TestNet to the International Maritime Organization’s Marine Environment Protection Committee MEPC82, which took place last year, revealed that 29% to 44% of operational systems are failing to remove invasive species in the >50µm range, with more than 100 organisms of this size routinely found in every 1m3 of treated water.


The D-2 standard of the BWM Convention, which entered fully into force on 8 September, requires ships to discharge ballast water with fewer than 10 viable organisms per 1m3 that are at least 50µm in size.


Over 30% of all installed ballast water treatment systems fail Port State Control D-2 compliance inspections despite 95% of systems having successfully passed commissioning tests.


According to the findings, the most common reasons for non-compliance were contamination of the ballast water tank from mixing treated and untreated waters or improperly opening/closing valves; organism regrowth due to insufficient and infrequent cleaning of the ballast water tanks; and human error due to insufficient system knowledge, maintenance, and training.


Top ranked sources of failure:


- Contamination inherent to presence of organisms in tanks (no cleaning of tanks at commissioning and regrowth)


- Contamination from mixing treated water with untreated water


- BWMS not used in accordance with manufacturer instructions (including a lack of sufficient crew training)


“These results show that even if a vessel with a type-approved ballast water treatment system passes initial commissioning tests, the BWM system alone cannot assure against non- compliance,” said Charlène Ceresola, BIO-UV Group’s BWT Project Manager, who is currently participating in the BWM Convention Review as a Member of the French Delegation to the IMO Ballast Water Review Group.


68 | ISSUE 111 | MAR 2025 | THE REPORT


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