Cyprus Flag Administration guide for BWM Convention entering into force on 8th September 2017.

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The Cyprus Department of Merchant Shipping (DMS) has issued a circular to owners, operators and managers of Cyprus-flagged ships regarding Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention will enter into force on 8th September 2017.

ballast1From the DMS relevant circular number 1/2017:

1. The International Convention for the Control and Management of Ship’s Ballast Water and Sediments 2004 (“BWM Convention”) will enter into force on 8th September 2017.

2. The Republic of Cyprus is not a State Party to the BWM Convention at present and we are working towards ratifying the Convention. Due to the entry into force of the BWM Convention, all ships under Cyprus flag to which the Convention applies when calling at ports or terminals of State Parties to the BWM Convention, will have to comply with the provisions of the BWM Convention and will be required to carry on board a “Class Statement of Compliance” issued after survey by the Recognised Organisation1 (“RO”) which has issued the class certificate.

3. Once the BWM Convention enters into force, the Republic of Cyprus following accession (of which you will be informed via a new DMS Circular), will authorize ROs to perform statutory work on Cyprus flagged ships and any Statement of Compliance will be replaced directly with an “International Ballast Water Management Certificate”, without a survey and with expiry date no later than the one on the existing Statement of Compliance.

4. As per IMO Res.1088 (28), existing ships, constructed before 8 September 2017, will require to comply with either regulation D-1 or D-2. After their first renewal survey, associated with the International Oil Pollution Prevention Certificate (IOPP) under MARPOL Annex I, ships will have to comply with the ballast water treatment standard D-2. Additionally, each ship shall have on board a Ballast Water record book in accordance with regulation B-2 which shall at least contain the information specified in Appendix II of the Convention.

5. Ships subject to the Convention, constructed on or after 8th September 2017, are required to comply with the discharge standard specified in Regulation D-2 of the Convention on delivery.

6. Ballast water management plans should be approved by the ROs, in accordance with the regulation B-1 of the Annex to the Ballast Water Management Convention taking into account the “Guidelines for Ballast Water Management and Development of Ballast Water Management Plans” (G4).

7. Cyprus ships after 8th September 2017 using a Ballast Water Management System (BWMS) must have a “Type Approval certificate”, in compliance with the IMO 2016 Guidelines For Approval Of Ballast Water Management Systems (G8) as per resolution MEPC.279(70).

8. It is noted that ships to which the Convention applies could be exempted by a Party or Parties when operating in a same risk area and under the conditions described in regulation A-4 of the Convention.

9. Finally, the DMS strongly recommends that the harmonization of all statutory certification is maintained. In case an owner wishes to complete the IOPP renewal survey earlier, then all other statutory renewal surveys must be completed at the same time, including any associated docking survey.

10. However, the DMS is willing to accept, on a case by case basis, the earlier completion of the IOPP renewal survey and the de-harmonisation of the aforesaid survey from other surveys, before the Convention comes into force. In such cases of de-harmonisation of the IOPP survey, it is strongly recommended that owners / managers reintegrate the IOPP survey into the HSSC system at the earliest opportunity. The applications for deharmonisation of the IOPP survey should be submitted in writing to the following e-mail address: environment@dms.mcw.gov.cy.

The Marine Environment Protection Division of the DMS will be at the disposal of Owners, Managers and anyone concerned with the matter for any explanations and clarifications they may require.

For any questions or queries concerning the content of this Circular, interested parties may contact the DMS at the above e-mail.

The relevant DMS circular can be downloaded from the website: http://www.shipping.gov.cy/ 

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Source: Cyprus DMS

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