A summary of the decisions taken at the sixty-fifth session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC65) held from 13 to 17 May 2013 is provided as below for your information.

1. Ballast Water Management Convention
Ballast Water Management Convention was adopted in 2004 in order to prevent the adverse effects to the maritime environment caused by the transfer of ballast water.
The Convention will enter into force 12 months after ratification by 30 states, representing 35% of the world merchant shipping tonnage. With Germany ratifying the Convention on 20 June 2013, the number of member countries has reached 37 countries representing 30.32% of the world merchant fleet tonnage. As of now, the Convention has not come into effect.
Upon the enforcement, the Convention will require ships to conduct ballast water exchange either offshore or through Ballast Water Management Systems which meet the standard for the discharge of ballast water. Then, according to the schedule set by the Convention, all the ships will be required to conduct ballast water exchange through Ballast Water Management Systems in the future.
(1) Relaxation of installation schedule for Ballast Water Management Systems
It is pointed out that if the Convention comes into effect as it is, a large number of ships are to install Ballast Water Management Systems upon its enforcement, which is said to delay the ratification of the convention. Also, at the previous MEPC meeting, it was recognized that the quite a small number of systems has been installed so far.
Accordingly, it was agreed to review the installation schedule for the systems in order to ensure the smooth implementation of the Convention.
At this session, the draft assembly resolution was agreed, allowing existing ships originally required to install the systems by the entry into force date of the Convention to be exempted from the requirement until its first renewal survey for International Oil Pollution Prevention (IOPP) Certificate following the date of entry into force of the Convention.
The draft resolution will be considered with a view to adoption at the IMO Assembly in November 2013.
The installation schedule for the systems in accordance with the draft resolution is shown in the following Table. (Taking a case as an example where the Convention comes into effect on/after 1 January 2015 and on/after 2017, respectively)

(To be continued)