MEPC 55/23

I:\MEPC\55\23.doc ANNEX 5

RESOLUTION MEPC.153(55)

Adopted on 13 October 2006

GUIDELINES FOR BALLAST WATER RECEPTION FACILITIES (G5)

THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION COMMITTEE,

RECALLING Article 38(a) of the Conve ntion on the International Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Marine Environment Protection Committee conferred upon it by the international conventions for the prevention and control of marine pollution,

RECALLING ALSO that the International C onference on Ballast Water Management for Ships held in February 2004 adopted the In ternational Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sedi ments, 2004 (the Ballast Water Management Convention) together with four Conference resolutions,

NOTING that Regulation A-2 of the Ballast Water Management Convention requires that discharge of ballast water shall only be conducted through Ballast Water Management in accordance with the provisions of the Annex to the Convention,

NOTING FURTHER that Regu lation B-3.6 of the Ballast Water Management Convention provides that, the re quirements of ballast water management standards do not apply to ships that discharge ballast water to a r eception facility designed taking into account the Guidelines developed by the Orga nization for such facilities,

NOTING ALSO that resolution 1 adopted by the International Conference on Ballast Water Management for Ships invite d the Organization to develop these Guidelines as a matter of

urgency,

HAVING CONSIDERED, at its fi fty-fifth session, the draft the Guidelines for ballast water reception facilities (G5) developed by the Ballast Water Working Group, and the recommendation made by the Sub-Committee on Flag State Implementation at its fourteenth session,

1. ADOPTS the Guidelines for ballast water recep tion facilities (G5) as set out in the Annex to this resolution;

2. INVITES Governments to apply these Guidelines as soon as possible, or when the Convention becomes applicable to them; and

3. AGREES to keep these Guidelines under review.MEPC 55/23

ANNEX 5 Page 2

I:\MEPC\55\23.doc ANNEX

GUIDELINES FOR BALLAST WATER RECEPTION FACILITIES (G5)

1 INTRODUCTION

Purpose

1.1 The purpose of these guidelines is to provide guidance for the provision of facilities for the reception of ballast water as referred to in Regulation B-3.6 of the Convention. These guidelines are not intended to requi re that a Party shall provide such facilities. The guidance is also intended to encourage a worldwide uniform interface between such facilities and the ships without prescribing dedicated shoreside reception plants.

Application

1.2 These guidelines apply to ballast water recepti on facilities referred to in the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (the Convention), Regulation B-3.6.

1.3 These guidelines do not apply to reception faci lities for sediment referred to in Article 5 and Regulation B-5 of the Convention.

2 DEFINITIONS

2.1 For the purposes of these guidelines, the defi nitions in Article 1 and Regulation A-1 of the Convention apply.

3 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR BALLAST WATER RECEPTION

FACILITIES

3.1 A ballast water reception facility should be capable of receiving ballast water from ships so as not to create a risk to the environment, human health, property an d resources arising from

the release to the environment of Harmful Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens. A facility should provide pipelines, manifolds, reducers, equipmen t and other resources to enable, as far as practicable, all ships wishing to discharge ballast water in a port to use the facility. The facility should provide adequate equipment for mooring ship s using the facility and when applicable safe anchorage.

3.2 Each Party shall report to the Organizati on and, where appropriate, make available to other Parties, information on the availability and location of any reception facilities for the environmentally safe disposal of ballast water.

4 PROVISION OF BALLAST WATER RECEPTION FACILITIES

4.1 When considering the requirements of these fa cilities many factors will have to be taken into account, these should in clude but not be limited to:MEPC 55/23

ANNEX 5 Page 3

I:\MEPC\55\23.doc .1 regional, national and local le gislation which will affect the facility and related to the items below; .2 site selection; .3 ship type and size that will use the facility; .4 ship configurations; .5 mooring requirements; .6 handling of ballast water; .7 sampling, testing and anal ysis of ballast water; .8 storage and of conditions of ballast water; .9 environmental benefits and costs; .10 proximity of available sites to local ports;

.11 effect on the environment in constr uction and operation of the facility; .12 training of facility staff; .13 human health; .14 safety; .15 maintenance; .16 operational limitations; .17 waterway access, approaches and traffic management; and .18 the amount of ballast water likely to be received.

5 TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL OF RECEIVED BALLAST

5.1 Disposal of ballast water from a reception facility should not create a risk to the environment, human health, property and resources arising from the release or transfer to the environment of Harmful Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens.

5.2 Treatment methods applied to the ballast wa ter should not produce effects that may create a risk to the environment, human health, property and resources.

5.3 Where ballast water is disposed into the a quatic environment it s hould at least meet the ballast water performance standard specified in Regulation D-2 of the Convention. Disposal to

other environments should be to a standard acceptable to the Port State. Such a standard should not create a risk to the environment, human h ealth, property and res ources arising from the

release or transfer to the environment of Harmful Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens.

6 SUSPENDED MATTER

6.1 Ballast water discharged from a ship should be accepted by the ballast water reception facility including its suspended matter.

7 CAPABILITIES OF A RECEPTION FACILITY

7.1 Details of the capabilities and any capacity li mitations of a treatmen t facility should be made available to the ships that intend to use the facility.

7.2 The details made available to ship s should include but not be limited to:

.1 maximum volumetric capacity of ballast water;

.2 maximum volume of ballast water that can be handled at any one time;MEPC 55/23

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I:\MEPC\55\23.doc .3 maximum transfer rates of ballast water (cubic metres per hour);

.4 hours of operation;

.5 ports, berths, areas where access to the facility is available;

.6 ship-to-shore pipeline connection details (pipeline size and reducers available);

.7 if ship or shore crew are required for duties such as to connect or disconnect hoses;

.8 contact details for the facility;

.9 how to request use of the facility including any notice period and what information is required from the ship;

.10 all applicable fees; and

.11 other relevant information.

7.4 The facility should provide ship to shore connections that are compatible with a recognized standard such as those in the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF)

“Recommendations for Oil Tankers Manifolds and A ssociated Equipment”. It is recognized that this standard was originally produced for oil ta nkers however the genera l principles in this standard can be applied to connections for ballast transfer on other ship types in particular the sections related to flanges and connection methods.

8 TRAINING

8.1 Personnel in charge of and those employed in the provision of a ballast water reception facility including the treatment and disposal of ballast water should have received adequate instruction. Frequent tr aining should include bu t not be limited to:

.1 the purpose and principles of the Convention; .2 the risks to the environment and human health; .3 risk associated with the handling of ba llast water including both general safety and human health risks; .4 safety; .5 adequate knowledge of the equipment involved; .6 a sufficient understanding of ships using the facility, and any operational constraints; .7 the ship/port communi cation interface; and .8 an understanding of local disposal controls.

8.2 The training should be organized by the mana ger or the operator of the reception facility and delivered by suitably qualified professionals.

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