The Marshall Islands registry (RMI) said it will support proposals that would allow a five-year trial period for shipowners to comply with new ballast water management regulations.
“The RMI will support proposals for bringing revised Guidelines for Approval of Ballast Water Management Systems (G8) in line with the United States Environmental Technology Verification (ETV), so that a system approved for the US Coast Guard can be approved for the BWMC, and vice-versa,” the registry said in a statement issued in Piraeus.
“The RMI will not object to early renewal of the International Oil Pollution Prevention (IOPP) Certificate, and note this can be a method of allowing time for harmonizing of the revised G8 Guidelines and US ETV,” it added.
That will be the registry’s position at a meeting of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) next week in London, which will discuss the implementation of the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC), said the registry’s regulatory affairs officer Thanos Theocharis.
As currently drafted, the proposed amendment to the BWMC is linked to the renewal survey associated with the IOPP certificate, the registry said.
“Therefore, if this is the actual amendment, then the early renewal of the IOPP certificate will allow five years from the point of renewal to BWMS installation.”
“The RMI considers the trial period, which will commence at entry into force of the BWMC, as vital to ensuring the implementation is practical, it does not penalize ships that installed BWMS in good faith (“early movers”) and continues to maintain and operate these in line with the manufacturer’s guidance.
"The RMI fully supports the non-penalization of early movers during and after the trial period,” the registry said.
The Marshall Islands registry announced earlier this month it has become the top flag worldwide for tankers with a fleet of 44.6 million gross tons (gt).
Including other types of ships, its total fleet has 3,937 vessels with a volume of 137.3 million gt.
