21st June 2021

Bulletin 347: Commissioning Survey and Testing of BWMS After Installation

Application: All shipowner/operators, masters and officers of merchant ships and authorised classification societies

Background

Further to BMSR Bulletins 264, 272 and 272 (Update) on Ballast Water Management. The revised 2016 Guidelines (G8) in MEPC Resolution 279(70), now the BWMS Code, entered into force on 13 October 2019 and ballast water management systems installed on ships on or after 28 October 2020 shall be approved in accordance with the BWMS Code.

BWMS Commissioning and Testing Survey

A commissioning test to verify the performance shall be carried out after installation of any BWMS. MEPC 74 has approved a draft amendment to the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC) to conduct additional testing at commissioning to demonstrate through representative sampling and indicative analysis, that the BWMS is performing correctly and this amendment has been adopted at MEPC 75.

Sampling and Analysis Testing at the Commissioning Test

At MEPC 75 held virtually between 16-20 November 2020, draft amendments to Regulation E-1 requiring commissioning testing of ballast water management systems and draft amendments to the form of the International Ballast Water Management Certificate (Appendix 1) in the Annex to MEPC 75/3/1, were adopted by the IMO and are expected to enter into force on 1st June 2022. Refer to the two IMO Circulars below:

  • BWM.2/Circ.70/Rev.1 dated 9th December 2020, Guidance for the Commissioning and Testing of Ballast Water Management Systems, contains detailed requirements for commissioning and testing of BWMS to D-2 standards, including indicative and representative sampling and analysis, following installation onboard.
  • BWM.2/Circ.42/Rev.2 dated 9th December 2020, Guidance on Ballast Water Sampling and Analysis for Trial Use in Accordance with the BWM Convention and Guidelines (G2), contains general recommendations on methodologies and approaches to sampling and analysis to test for compliance with Regulations D-1 and D-2 of the BWM Convention.

The commissioning and testing of the BWMS after installation onboard is to be performed by the approved RO in accordance with the BWM Code, Regulation E-1, as part of the installation process. However, the additional representative sampling and indicative testing and analysis required under BWM.2/Circ.70/Rev.1 and BWM.2/Circ.42/Rev.2 is not yet mandatory, and may either be voluntarily applied or deferred until the adoption of the draft amendments to MEPC 75/3/1, expected on 1st June 2022.

 

BMSR 21/06/2021