Ballast water management (BWM) has been on the agenda at the Global Water Summit 2015 in Athens, Greece (27-28 April). At a session entitled “2015: the year for ballast water?” IMO’s Antoine Blonce presented latest updates on the IMO BWM Convention and GloBallast Partnerships Programme, which aim to address the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens in ships’ ballast water, thereby reducing the negative impact on marine ecosystems.

To date, the BWM Convention has been ratified by 44 Member States, representing 32.86% of world tonnage, with 35% of world tonnage needed to meet the entry into force criteria.