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

Extension of periods of validity of IBWM Certificates by a Certifying Authority

29.—(1) The Certifying Authority that issued an IBWM Certificate in respect of a United Kingdom ship may extend the period of validity of that Certificate—

(a) to a maximum period of five years provided that—

(i) the remaining period of validity for that Certificate prior to the extension is less than five years; and

(ii) any surveys required under regulation 25(c) (surveys of United Kingdom ships) have been carried out; and

(b) for a period not exceeding three months if—

(i) a renewal survey has not been completed before the date of expiry of that Certificate;

(ii) at the date of expiry, the ship is not in the port in which the survey is to be carried out; and

(iii) it appears to the Certifying Authority that it is proper and reasonable to do so solely for the purpose of enabling that ship to proceed to the port in which the survey is to be carried out.

(2) Where the period of validity of an IBWM Certificate has been extended under paragraph (1)(b), the ship in question must not leave the port of survey until a new IBWM Certificate has been issued in respect of that ship.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), the Certifying Authority that issued an IBWM Certificate in respect of a United Kingdom ship engaged solely on short voyages may extend the period of validity of that Certificate for a period not exceeding one month.

(4) A Certifying Authority must not extend the period of validity of an IBWM Certificate under paragraph (3) if the period of validity of that Certificate has already been extended under—

(a) paragraph (1)(a) or (b); or

(b) regulation 30 (extension of periods of validity of IBWM Certificates by a surveyor).

(5) Where the period of validity of an IBWM Certificate is extended under paragraph (1) or (3), the issuing Certifying Authority must endorse the IBWM Certificate.

(6) In this regulation “short voyage” means a voyage which—

(a) does not exceed 1,000 nautical miles between the last port of call in the country in which the voyage begins and the last port of call in the voyage before beginning any return voyage; and

(b) on any return voyage does not exceed 1,000 nautical miles between the port of call in which the ship begins its return voyage and the first port of call in the country in which the voyage began,

and for the purposes of this definition no account is to be taken of any deviation by a ship from its intended voyage due solely to stress of weather, or any other circumstances that neither the master, nor the owner, nor the charterer if any, of the ship could have prevented or forestalled(1).

(1)

The definition of “short voyage” derives from IMO Resolution A.1104(29). Resolutions of the IMO can be obtained from the IMO Library at 4 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SR and www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/Pages/Default.aspx; email: [e-mail]; telephone: [phone]. They will also be made available via the Foreign and Commonwealth Office treaties database (https://treaties.fco.gov.uk/responsive/app/consolidatedSearch/#home).