MERCHANT SHIPPING (BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT CONVENTION) REGULATIONS

(BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT CONVENTION)

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 234.55

MERCHANT SHIPPING

(BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT CONVENTION)

REGULATIONS

8th September, 2017

LEGAL NOTICE 222 of 2017.

The title of these regulations is the Merchant Shipping

(Ballast Water Management Convention) Regulations.

(1)

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise

requires

"the Act" means the Merchant Shipping Act;

"competent authority" means the Authority for Transport

in Malta established by article 5 of the Authority for Transport

in Malta Act and in relation to other State parties means the

national maritime administration maintained by those States;

"Convention" means the International Convention for the

Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and

Sediments, 2004, including any amendment thereto as may

from time to time be ratified, acceded to or accepted by the

Government of Malta and other instruments, standards and

specifications of a mandatory nature related thereto adopted or

developed by the International Maritime Organization;

"Maltese Ships" shall have the same meaning as is

assigned to it in article 3(1) of the Act;

"Registrar General" shall have the same meaning as is

assigned to it in the Act;

"territorial waters" shall have the same meaning as is

assigned to it in the Territorial Waters and Contiguous Zone

Act.

(2)

Unless otherwise defined in the Act or in these

regulations, or unless the context otherwise requires, words and

expressions used in these regulations shall have the same meaning

assigned to them in the Convention.

(1)

These regulations shall apply to all Maltese ships

wherever they may be and to all other ships while they are in Maltese

territorial waters.

These regulations shall not apply to

(a)

ships not designed or constructed to carry Ballast

(BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT CONVENTION)

Water;

(b)

Maltese Ships which only operate in waters under

the jurisdiction of Malta;

(c)

Maltese Ships which only operate in waters under

the jurisdiction of another Party to the Convention, subject to

the authorisation of the latter Party for such exclusion;

(d)

ships which only operate in waters under the

jurisdiction of Malta and on the high seas, except for ships not

granted an authorisation pursuant to paragraph (c) of this sub-

regulation;

(e)

any warship, naval auxiliary or other ship owned

or operated by a State and used, for the time being, only on

government non-commercial service;

(f)

Permanent Ballast Water in sealed tanks on ships

that is not subject to discharge;

(g)

pleasure craft used solely for recreation or

competition or craft used primarily for search and rescue, less

than 50 metres in length overall, and with a maximum Ballast

Water capacity of 8 cubic metres

Provided that

- such craft shall exchange Ballast Water outside

port waters and as far from the coast as practically possible;

- when loading Ballast Water, every effort should

be made to avoid the uptake of potentially harmful aquatic

organisms, pathogens and sediments that may contain such

organisms;

- Ballast Water should be exchanged prior to

discharge in accordance with regulation B-4 of the Convention;

and

- any chemical treatment shall only use Active

Substances approved by the International Maritime

Organization.

(1)

The Convention, as may from time to time be in

force, shall, unless otherwise provided in or in terms of these

Regulations and notwithstanding the provision of any other law, form

part of and be enforceable as part of the Law of Malta.

(2)

The Registrar-General may either on a case by case basis

or through the issue of Merchant Shipping Notices

(BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT CONVENTION)

(a)

determine, lay down, prescribe, set or specify

what may be required to be determined, laid down, prescribed,

set or specified by these regulations, by the Convention, or

expound on the requirements of these regulations or of the

Convention or clarify their application or interpretation; and

(b)

extend any of the provisions of the Convention, to

other classes of Maltese ships or, to other classes of ships while

they are in Maltese waters, and in so doing, and without

prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the Registrar-

General shall be guided by the circulars, clarifications, codes,

decisions, directives, guidelines, instruments, interpretations,

manuals, notices, publications, recommendations, regulations,

resolutions, rules or any other similar medium of the

International Maritime Organization or any other body or

organisation with an appropriate knowledge or competence on

the subject matter.

Ships must carry on board and implement a Ballast Water

Management Plan approved by the competent authority in accordance

with regulation B-1 of the Convention.

(1)

Ships shall have on board a Ballast Water record

book that may be an electronic record system, or that may be

integrated into another record book or system and, which shall at least

contain the information specified in Appendix II to the Convention.

(2)

Ballast Water record book entries shall be maintained on

board the ship for a minimum period of two years after the last entry

has been made and thereafter in the Company’s control for a minimum

period of three years.

(3)

In the event of the discharge of Ballast Water pursuant to

regulations A-3, A-4 or B-3.6 of the Convention or in the event of

other accidental or exceptional discharge of Ballast Water not

otherwise exempted by the Convention or these regulations, an entry

shall be made in the Ballast Water record book describing the

circumstances of, and the reason for the discharge.

(4)

The Ballast Water record book shall be kept readily

available for inspection at all times and, in the case of an unmanned

ship under tow, may be kept on the towing ship.

(5)

Each operation concerning Ballast Water shall be fully

recorded without delay in the Ballast Water record book. Each entry

shall be signed by the officer in charge of the operation concerned and

each completed page shall be signed by the master. The entries in the

Ballast Water record book shall be in English.

(BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT CONVENTION)

(1) No Maltese ship shall proceed or attempt to proceed

to sea on an international voyage unless there is in force in respect of

the ship an International Ballast Water Management Certificate, issued

after successful completion of a survey conducted in accordance with

regulation E-1 of the Convention.

(2)

No ship shall proceed to sea or attempt to proceed to sea

on an international voyage from Maltese waters unless there is in force

in respect of the ship an International Ballast Water Management

Certificate.

Except where expressly provided otherwise, the

discharge of Ballast Water shall only be conducted in accordance with

Ballast Water Management by employing exchange, treatment or

delivery to reception facilities in accordance with the Convention and

these regulations.

(1)

A ship required to meet the standard of regulation

D-1 of the Convention shall perform Ballast Water exchange with an

efficiency of at least 95 percent volumetric exchange of Ballast Water.

(2)

A ship exchanging Ballast Water by the pumping-

through method, pumping through three times the volume of each

Ballast Water tank shall be considered to meet the standard described

in sub-regulation (1). Pumping through less than three times the

volume may be accepted provided the ship can demonstrate that at

least 95 percent volumetric exchange is met.

(3)

A ship conducting Ballast Water exchange to meet the

standard in regulation D-1 of the Convention shall comply with the

requirements of Regulation B-4 of the Convention.

(1)

A ship required to meet the standard in regulation

D-2 of the Convention shall treat Ballast Water with technology

approved in accordance with sub-regulation 2 of this regulation.

Treated Ballast Water that is discharged shall comply with the

requirements of Regulation D-2 of the Convention.

(2)

Ballast Water Management systems used to comply with

the requirements of this regulation must be approved by the competent

authority in accordance with Regulation D-3 of the Convention.

The requirements of these regulations do not apply to

ships that discharge Ballast Water to a reception facility designed

taking into account the Guidelines developed by the International

Maritime Organization for such facilities.

(1)

The requirements of these regulations shall not

apply to

(a)

the uptake or discharge of Ballast Water and

(BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT CONVENTION)

sediments necessary for the purpose of ensuring the safety of

the ship in emergency situations or saving life at sea; or

(b)

the accidental discharge or ingress of Ballast

Water and sediments resulting from damage to the ship or its

equipment

(i)

provided that all reasonable precautions

have been taken before and after the occurrence of the

damage or discovery of the damage or discharge for the

purpose of preventing or minimizing the discharge; and

(ii)

unless the owner, company or officer in

charge wilfully or recklessly caused damage;

(c)

the uptake or discharge of Ballast Water and

sediments when being used for the purpose of avoiding or

minimizing pollution incidents from the ship; or

(d)

the uptake and subsequent discharge on the high

seas of the same Ballast Water and sediments; or

(e)

the discharge of Ballast Water and sediments from

a ship at the same location where the whole of that Ballast

Water and those sediments originated and provided that no

mixing with unmanaged Ballast Water and sediments from

other areas has occurred. If mixing has occurred, the Ballast

Water taken from other areas is subject to Ballast Water

Management in accordance with Annex A to the Convention.

(1)

The competent authority, in waters under

jurisdiction of Malta, may grant exemptions to any requirements of

these regulations, in addition to other exemptions contained in the

Convention, but only when they are

(a) granted to a ship or ships on a voyage or voyages

between specified ports or locations; or to a ship which operates

exclusively between specified ports or locations;

(b)

effective for a period of no more than five years

subject to intermediate review;

(c)

granted to ships that do not mix Ballast Water or

sediments other than between the ports or locations specified in

sub-regulation (1)(a); and

(d)

granted based on the Guidelines on risk

assessment developed by the International Maritime

Organization.

(2)

Any exemptions granted under this regulation shall not

impair or damage the environment, human health, property or

(BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT CONVENTION)

resources of adjacent or other States. Any State that Malta determines

may be adversely affected shall be consulted, with a view to resolving

any identified concerns.

(3)

Any exemptions granted under this article shall be

recorded in the Ballast Water record book.

(1)

The Registrar General, or an appropriate

inspector, may inspect any ship to which these regulations apply and if

satisfied that the ship is not in compliance with the provisions of these

regulations and the applicable requirements of the Convention, the

Registrar General shall take such measures as are considered necessary

to ensure that the ship shall not sail until it can proceed to sea without

presenting an unreasonable threat of harm to the marine environment

and any expenses incurred therefore shall be a charge on the ship, so

however that the ship shall not be unduly detained or delayed

Provided that the Registrar General may permit the ship

to proceed to sea for the purpose of proceeding to the nearest

appropriate repair yard available

Provided further that, in the case of a non-Maltese ship,

such inspection shall be limited to verify that there is on-board in

relation to such ship a valid International Ballast Water Management

Certificate and inspection of the Ballast Water record book, unless

there are clear grounds for believing that the condition of the ship or

its equipment does not correspond substantially with the particulars of

that certificate or the master or the crew are not familiar with essential

shipboard procedures relating to Ballast Water Management, or have

not implemented such procedures, a more detailed inspection may be

carried out.

(2)

In the case of a non-Maltese ship, if the Registrar

General takes such steps as specified in sub-regulation (1), the

Registrar General shall forthwith notify the maritime Administration

and the nearest maritime, consular or diplomatic representative of the

flag State of the ship.

(3)

For the purposes of this regulation, the provisions of

article 154(2) and (3) of the Act shall apply mutatis mutandis to the

Registrar General and to appropriate inspectors.

It shall be the duty of the owner, of the company which

has assumed the operation of the ship and of the master to ensure that

the ship is in compliance with the provisions and requirements of these

regulations and the applicable requirements of the Convention and

such person, if in fault, shall be liable to the penalties provided for in

the Act, and if no such penalty is provided, such person shall, for each

offence, be liable to a fine (multa) not exceeding five thousand (5,000)

units.