ClassNK Advises Existing Ships to Install Ballast Water Management Systems Early On

Classification society ClassNK has analyzed the retrofitting status of ballast water management systems (BWMS) on its registered ships and confirmed that installation deadlines based on the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWM Convention) for many of them are highly concentrated in the year 2022. As difficulties are expected in the installation of BWMS if everyone around the world waits until 2022, ClassNK recommends installing early.

As of the end of August 2018, there are 7,315 ships on the ClassNK register that are obligated to install BWMS in compliance with the BWM Convention. Of this amount, 1,915 ships have completed the installation, leaving 5,400 ships that still require attention.

The distribution of BWMS installation deadlines in line with the BWM Convention is as follows: 92 ships by 2019, 662 ships by 2020, 795 ships by 2021, 2,832 ships by 2022, 558 ships by 2023, and 461 ships by 2024, with the majority being highly concentrated in 2022 (refer to the graph below). The peak figure for 2022 may decrease due to the influence of ship recycling trends and response to USCG regulations.

ClassNK is ready to continue providing extensive support to all clients for challenges related to the retrofitting of BWMS.

Sep 28 2018