International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 and US Ballast Water Management (BWM) Regulations 16 January 2017 No.16-019 Download PDF (210KB) Background The IMO’s International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 (the “Convention”) will enter into force on 8th September 2017.  The Convention seeks to prevent the spread of harmful aquatic organisms from one region to another, by the establishment of standards and procedures for the management and control of ships' ballast water and sediments. As of 11th January 2017, there are 54 Contracting States to the Convention representing 53.30% of the world’s global tonnage 1     .   The United States (US) is not a State Party to the Convention.  Instead the US has its own requirements. In particular, US Coast Guard (USCG) Regulations require the installation on most ships operating and discharging ballast water in US waters of a BWM system approved by the USCG that meets the USCG’s testing standards at the first scheduled dry docking after 1st January 2016.  The USCG testing standards have, up until the adoption last year of the 2016 IMO Guidelines for approval of ballast water management systems (G8), been considered more robust than IMO Guidelines for the approval of BWM systems.  As is noted below, the State of California has its own BWM standards, which will be even stricter than those of the USCG. The inconsistent nature of the various Regulations has caused some confusion in the industry.   IMO BWM Convention Under the Convention, all ships engaged on international voyages will be required to manage their ballast water and sediments to a certain standard, according to a ship-specific BWM plan, approved by the Member’s Flag Administration. All ships will also have to carry a ballast water record book and an international BWM certificate. The BWM standards will be phased in over