Impact of the ballast water management convention on the maritime industry (technical impact)

The Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention was duly ratified in September 2017 to institute regulations on the international shipping community to prevent the spread of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens (HAOP) worldwide. Under the Convention, all ships sailing on international voyage would need to adhere to the inaugurated requirements (i.e. D-1 standard and/or D-2 standard) and treat the Ballast Water on board before discharging it. The introduction of any international shipping convention would cause certain shipping practices to be altered and consequently, the maritime industry would be impacted in one way or another. Henceforth, the introduction of the BWM Convention and its regulations would, undoubtedly, have an impact on the maritime industry. A three-part study was conducted to evaluate the economic, legal and technical impacts of the BWM Convention on the maritime industry. Part I of the study addresses the legal impacts of the BWM Convention, focusing on the legislative entities and the implications of the Convention guidelines. Part II of the study tackles the economic impacts of the BWM Convention, focusing on the ship owners and their profitability margin. This research paper forms the Part III of the study and it aims to identify the impacts of the BWM Convention on the maritime industry due to its inaugurated regulations. Part I and II of the study will be covered by Ang Jia Yi and Tja Huei Min respectively in the separate papers. The impacts alluded in this paper will primarily be on the aspects of the environment and the ship owners. This paper will weigh and evaluate the severity of the various influences and eventually, present a holistic view on the potential impacts of the BWM Convention. The analysis and insights gathered would then help to expand the maritime industry’s awareness and apprehension on the effects brought forth by the BWM Convention. Through the collection of primary and secondary research data, the BWM Convention elicits both positive and negative repercussions. One of the more significant positive impacts would be the marine environmental contribution. The Convention serves as a strong pivoting point to direct the maritime industry towards the safeguarding of marine ecosystem by mitigating the transfer of HAOP. This study would also touch on the other positive impacts such as increasing business opportunities, enhancing reputation and mitigating the overcapacity issue in the shipping industry. Conversely, unsatisfactory performance results of Ballast Water Treatment Plants (BWTS), insufficient technical expertise of crew and disruption to ship voyage planning and operations were some of the negative repercussions mentioned in this study. In lieu of the negative repercussions, this paper has also included recommendations such as setting up a structured testing system and a rating system for all the type-approved BWTS. Such recommendations seek to enhance the robustness of the type-approved BWTS and thereby, further the effectiveness of the BWM Convention.Bachelor of Science (Maritime Studies