Logistics of compliance assessment and enforcement of the 2004 ballast water convention

When the 2004 Ballast Water Convention comes into force it is estimated that approximately 70 000 vessels will require functional certified Ballast Water Treatment Systems (BWTS). Certification testing to IMO D-2 regulations has involved both shipboard and land-based trials by a small number of test facilities world-wide. Compliance testing for enforcement purposes under the auspices of Port State Control, will include live/dead counts of residual organisms of different size classes in treated ballast water. However, technical problems in making counts of rare organisms, and difficulties in making live/ dead assessment of smaller non-motile organisms mean that comprehensive testing for full D-2 compliance will be a complex, time-consuming operation. Given the large numbers of commercial ships visiting several hundred ports world-wide and the limited resources for comprehensive testing, it is inevitable that more limited tiered approach to compliance enforcement will be required.