BWM compliance on World Maritime Day and beyond
This year’s World Maritime Day, and its theme of “Our Ocean, Our Obligation, Our Opportunity”, underline the vital role oceans play in sustaining life, livelihoods, and the global economy. Our oceans provide half of the oxygen we breathe, feed billions of people, regulate the climate, and enable over 80% of global trade.
BWM in focus
This day also highlights the deep connection between the global shipping industry and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This includes Goal 14: Life Below Water, which focuses on the conservation and sustainable use of ocean resources. Amongst other issues, it covers the need to reduce marine pollution, protect & restore ecosystems, and implement & enforce maritime laws.
With marine ecosystem conservation in mind, halting the spread of invasive aquatic species transported in ships’ ballast water tanks is vital, which is why the IMO has developed the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention over the years. Complying with these evolving regulations is not only about protecting the environment, but also about minimising financial and reputational risks.
The risks of failing to comply with the BWM Convention are especially prevalent now, as Port State Control teams within the Paris and Tokyo MoU regions (Europe, the North Atlantic, and Asia-Pacific) are currently leading a joint Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on BWM until 30th November, with the Black Sea and Indian Ocean MoU regions now also joining in. Failure to comply with the regulations can result in significant fines, costly delays entering or leaving ports, and even vessel detention.
Minimising evolving risks
So, how can you minimise the risks to your crew, ship operations, and vessel? It is important to ensure you and your staff are up to date with the latest developments to the BWM Convention. Tangible updates, particularly to ballast water record-keeping, were discussed at MEPC 82 in October 2024 and then enforced from February 2025. At MEPC 83 in April 2025, broader environmental reporting requirements were added to seafarers’ and shoreside teams’ workloads, adding to the admin.
In particular, the IMO has updated the rules for using ballast water management systems (BWMS) in areas with challenging water quality (CWQ). The crew must now complete a reactive bypass of the BWMS in the face of unexpected water quality issues or conduct a pre-emptive bypass based on anticipated CWQ – such as the sediment-rich waters of Shanghai.
The crew must also record its responses to CWQ in the Ballast Water Management Plan (BWMP) and Ballast Water Record Book (BWRB), as well as ensuring maintenance work is logged accurately, and is aligned with the original equipment manufacturer’s instructions. This reflects a broader focus on record-keeping processes, which are being more stringently enforced as a result of administrative errors and poor reporting leading to compliance failures.
DNV’s BWM compliance statistics for 2024 and 2025 show consistent issues of: missing specific flag approval letters; incorrect, missing or mismatched record entries; using an outdated BWRB; the BWMS being out of order; not reporting and recording BWMS failures; not following malfunction contingency measures; and inconsistent, missing or outdated information about the BWM method, port of registry, and designated crew member for BWMS operations.
Training, training, training is absolutely vital. While the BWMP must name a designated officer responsible for ballast operations, the reality is that the entire crew must be familiar with how to operate the BWMS and the related maintenance and reporting processes. Port State Control officers will expect crews to demonstrate BWMS operations and CWQ procedures during inspections, with clear failures resulting in fines. This includes training with electronic BWRB systems, which can streamline reporting processes if used properly.
World Maritime Day is an important reminder that ocean conservation and regulatory compliance both depend on seafarers. During this concentrated inspection period and beyond, BWMS use is just one of several competing priorities the crew face, with safe ship operations remaining paramount. This also comes at a time when there is mounting pressure to report and record environmental performance across a widening range of issues and regulations. With this in mind, seafarers cannot and must not face conservation and compliance challenges alone. To minimise risks, they require unwavering support, education and training from their organisations and the shipping industry more broadly – the sustainability of our ocean depends on it.
The West P&I Loss Prevention Team provides Members with the latest information on ballast water management and the other risks facing seafarers, ships and shipping today.