Latest developments on the entry into force of the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention took centre stage at the 8th International Conference on Ballast Water Management (24-25 April) in Singapore. IMO Secretary-General Emeritus, Koji Sekimizu, and Chief Technical Advisor of the GEF-UNDP-IMO GloBallast Partnerships Programme, Jose Matheickal, delivered keynote addresses at the event.
Among other key issues, participants discussed the revised guidelines for the approval of Ballast Water Management Systems (G8), challenges facing Port State Control with regards to Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement (CME) and the timeline for installation of BWM systems. The conference also looked at latest technological developments in the field of ballast water treatment and monitoring systems. Organized by IMarEST in partnership with GloBallast and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the conference was part of the Singapore Maritime Week and also included a tour of laboratories for testing ballast water management systems.