Verification of ballast water compliance monitoring devices

The International Maritime Organization has published the Protocol for the verification of ballast water compliance monitoring devices.

BWM.2/Circ.78 was published on 14 July 2023.

The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), at its eightieth session (3 to 7 July 2023), approved the Protocol for the verification of ballast water compliance monitoring devices.

This Protocol provides a framework that can be used to verify the ability of a compliance monitoring device to assess non-compliance with the standard described in regulation D-2 of the BWM Convention, as set out in the annex.

Member Governments and international organizations are invited to bring this Protocol to the attention of all parties concerned.

Annex: Protocol for the verification of ballast water compliance monitoring devices

Purpose

The goal of this protocol is to provide a framework that can be used to verify the ability of a compliance monitoring device (CMD) to assess non-compliance with the standard described in regulation D-2 (the D-2 standard) of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 (the BWM Convention), and its ability to operate, as claimed by the manufacturer, with regard to the degree or level of non-compliance that can be detected and with regard to the stated intended use of the device.

This protocol is intended to support effective implementation of the BWM Convention by enabling the use of ballast water CMDs that satisfy a common level of quality.

Verification testing parameters

This protocol is designed to evaluate the performance or capability of a CMD to detect non-compliance with the performance standard within the performance claims of the device manufacturer.

The CMD is evaluated as suitable or appropriate for its final use (i.e. detection of non-compliance with the performance standard) if the verification criteria listed in paragraph 8.4 are fulfilled.

For more information, please see the document below (available only to subscribers):