China has extended its compliance with IMO’s Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention to include the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Effective 13 August, all ships registered in Hong Kong – the world’s fourth largest flag administration in tonnage terms – will need to meet the requirements of the BWM Convention.
The regulation aims to protect marine ecosystems by requiring ships to manage their ballast water so that harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens are removed or rendered harmless before the ballast water is released into a new location.
The BWM Convention entered into force in 2017 and now has 83 parties, representing 90.98% of the gross tonnage of the world’s merchant shipping, up from 81.83% previously, according to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
