China and South Korea have signed an agreement to enforce the IMO’s Ballast Water Management Convention, whose two-year grace period will come to an end in early September.
According to the Chinese transport ministry’s Maritime Safety Administration (MSA), the memorandum of understanding is about waiving the requirement in exchanging ballast water for vessels engaged in China-South Korean trades.
“China and South Korea are neighbouring countries and there are buoyant trades among us,” the government agency said on its website.
“There are many vessels operating in China-South Korea routes. It is the shared responsibility between the two countries’ maritime authorities in safeguarding ship operational safety and marine environment.”
According to Chinese media, the waiver applies to vessels operating in China-South Korea trade lanes with water depths less than 50 metres or less than 100 nautical miles away from the territorial sea baselines of destination ports.
In general, exchange of ballast water takes place at least 200 nautical miles away from coastlines in waters with depths at least 200 metres.
The waiver will be effective from 1 June 2019 to 7 September 2024.
Calls to the Chinese MSA seeking further comments were not responded.
Based on the IMO convention, all ships of 400 gross tonnes or above will need to install ballast water treatment systems when renewing their International Oil Pollution Prevention Certificates.
