The Merchant Shipping (Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments) Regulations 2022

PART 3 Ballast water management

Ballast water management plan

9.—(1) Every ship must carry on board a ballast water management plan specific to that ship which has been—

(a) in the case of a United Kingdom ship, approved by a Certifying Authority; or

(b) in the case of any other ship, approved by the ship’s flag State.

(2) A Certifying Authority must take into account the guidelines referred to in section 4 of Merchant Shipping Notice MSN 1908 (M+F) when considering whether to approve a ballast water management plan.

(3) The master of a ship must ensure that—

(a) the crew of the ship are—

(i) familiar with their duties under the ballast water management plan; and

(ii) familiar with the ballast water management plan, where this is appropriate to their duties; and

(b) the ballast water management plan relating to the ship is implemented.

(4) The ballast water management plan must include the information specified in section 4 of Merchant Shipping Notice MSN 1908 (M+F).

(5) The ballast water management plan must be—

(a) written in the working language of the ship’s personnel; and

(b) if the working language is not English, French or Spanish, translated into one of these languages.

Ballast water record book

10.—(1) Every ship must have on board a ballast water record book which—

(a) contains the information specified in section 5 of Merchant Shipping Notice MSN 1908 (M+F); and

(b) may be in electronic form and may be integrated into another hardcopy or electronic record book.

(2) Each operation referred to in section 5 of Merchant Shipping Notice MSN 1908 (M+F) must be fully recorded without delay in the ballast water record book.

(3) In the event of—

(a) a discharge of ballast water as referred to in regulation 6 (exceptions to the requirement to conduct ballast water management);

(b) a discharge of ballast water which is covered by an exemption granted under regulation 7 (exemptions from the requirement to conduct ballast water management);

(c) a discharge of ballast water in accordance with regulation 11(5) (location of ballast water exchange); or

(d) an accidental or other exceptional discharge of ballast water not permitted under these Regulations,

an entry must be made in the ballast water record book describing the circumstances of, and the reason for, the discharge.

(4) Each entry in the ballast water record book must be signed by the officer in charge of the relevant operation.

(5) Each completed page of the ballast water record book must be signed by the master of the ship.

(6) The ballast water record book must be—

(a) written in the working language of the ship’s personnel; and

(b) if the working language is not English, French or Spanish, translated into one of those languages.

(7) Where an entry has been written in the national language of the ship’s flag State as well as a language referred to in paragraph (6), in the case of any dispute or discrepancy the entry made in that national language prevails.

(8) Subject to paragraph (9), the ballast water record book must—

(a) be kept on board the ship to which it relates;

(b) be retained on board the ship to which it relates for a period of two years after the last entry has been made; and

(c) be readily available for inspection at all reasonable times.

(9) In the case of an unmanned ship under tow, the ballast water record book may be kept on the towing ship.

(10) The ballast water record book must be retained by the owner of the ship for a period of three years after the period in paragraph (8)(b) has elapsed.

Location of ballast water exchange

11.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), ballast water exchange must, where possible, be carried out—

(a) at least 200 nautical miles from the nearest land; and

(b) in water at least 200 metres in depth.

(2) Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), where it is not possible to carry out ballast water exchange in accordance with paragraph (1), ballast water exchange—

(a) must be carried out—

(i) as far as possible from the nearest land and in any case not less than 50 nautical miles from the nearest land; and

(ii) in water at least 200 metres in depth; or

(b) must be carried out in an area designated by the Secretary of State under paragraph (6) in accordance with any conditions or limitations imposed under paragraph (7)(c)(i).

(3) Ballast water exchange in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (2) must take into account the guidelines developed by the IMO as specified in section 6 of Merchant Shipping Notice MSN 1908 (M+F).

(4) A requirement under paragraph (1) or (2)(a) does not apply to a ship where compliance with it would require the ship to—

(a) deviate from its intended voyage; or

(b) delay its voyage.

(5) Paragraphs (1) and (2) do not apply where the master of a ship reasonably decides that conducting ballast water exchange in accordance with them would threaten—

(a) the safety or stability of the ship;

(b) its crew; or

(c) its passengers,

because of adverse weather, ship design or stress, equipment failure, or any other extraordinary condition.

(6) The Secretary of State may designate areas of sea in which ships may conduct ballast water exchange.

(7) A designation under paragraph (6)—

(a) may only be made for areas of sea where the distance from the nearest land or the depth of water does not meet the parameters in paragraph (1) or (2)(a);

(b) must take into account the guidelines developed by the IMO as specified in section 7 of Merchant Shipping Notice MSN 1908 (M+F); and

(c) is valid only if given in writing and may be—

(i) subject to such conditions and limitations as the Secretary of State may specify; and

(ii) altered or cancelled by a notice given in writing by the Secretary of State.

(8) In this regulation “from the nearest land” means from the baseline from which the territorial sea of the territory in question is established in accordance with international law except that, for the purposes of this regulation, it shall mean in the case of land off the north-eastern coast of Australia from a line drawn from a point on the coast of Australia in—

• latitude 11°00´ S, longitude 142°08´ E

• to a point in latitude 10°35´ S, longitude 141°55´ E

• thence to a point latitude 10°00´ S, longitude 142°00´ E

• thence to a point latitude 9°10´ S, longitude 143°52´ E

• thence to a point latitude 9°00´ S, longitude 144°30´ E

• thence to a point latitude 10°41´ S, longitude 145°00´ E

• thence to a point latitude 13°00´ S, longitude 145°00´ E

• thence to a point latitude 15°00´ S, longitude 146°00´ E

• thence to a point latitude 17°30´ S, longitude 147°00´ E

• thence to a point latitude 21°00´ S, longitude 152°55´ E

• thence to a point latitude 24°30´ S, longitude 154°00´ E

• thence to a point on the coast of Australia in latitude 24°42´ S, longitude 153°15´ E.

Ballast water exchange standard

12.—(1) Where the sequential method of ballast water exchange is used, it must achieve 95 per cent volumetric exchange of ballast water.

(2) Where the pump-through method of ballast water exchange is used—

(a) at least three times the volume of the ballast water tank must be pumped through that tank; or

(b) it must achieve 95 per cent volumetric exchange of ballast water.

Ballast water and sediment treatment standard

13.—(1) Treatment must ensure that the concentrations of any viable organisms and indicator microbes in any ballast water or sediments discharged into the sea are less than—

(a) 10 viable organisms per cubic metre for large organisms;

(b) 10 viable organisms per millilitre for small organisms;

(c) one colony-forming unit of toxicogenic Vibrio cholerae (O1 and O139) per 100 millilitres or less than one colony-forming unit per gram (wet weight) of zooplankton samples;

(d) 250 colony-forming units of Escherichia coli per 100 millilitres; and

(e) 100 colony-forming units of Intestinal Enterococci per 100 millilitres.

(2) In this regulation—

(a) “large organism” means an organism equal to or greater than 50 micrometres in minimum dimension;

(b) “small organism” means an organism equal to or greater than 10 micrometres and less than 50 micrometres in minimum dimension; and

(c) “viable organism” means organisms that have the ability to successfully generate new individuals in order to reproduce the species.