Introduction: Update of the Global Maritime Transport and Ballast Water Management Book First Edition

Not to repeatedly write another general ballast water management (BWM) introduction chapter, we here instead update the reader on selected ballast water issues with a focus on new developments since the first edition of this book was published in 2015. Possibly the most important key achievement in BWM in these times was the entry into force of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 (BWM Convention) in September 2017. Undoubtedly, this will globally be a major step to manage ballast water as species transfer vector. Further, we described the amendments to guidelines, which support the BWM Convention implementation and which were agreed since the first edition of this book was released. To illustrate the BWM Convention implementation complexity, we present, as an example, the phase-in schedule of the Ballast Water Exchange Standard (Regulation D-1) and Ballast Water Performance Standard (Regulation D-2). This phase-in ends in 2024, and from this time onwards, all ballast water discharges from ships, for which BWM Convention applies, need to meet the D-2 standard. We further report that the number of approved BWM systems (BWMS) has more than doubled since the first edition of this book was released, and also new technologies are considered for the purpose of ballast water management. We further report that vessel inspections for compliance with BWM requirements have begun and that penalties are in place for non-compliance with BWM standards. Further, we describe that, according to IMO guidance, biological BWMS commissioning testing is now required after each BWMS installation on each vessel. In addition, the intention of this book and a brief overview of its content are also included below.