The impacts of the D-2 ballast water management standard on stakeholders (technical impact)

Abstract

On the 8th September 2017, the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments, or Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention, was entered into force globally, marking a critical turning point towards halting the spread of invasive species via ballast water. The BWM convention laid out several regulations that are known colloquially by their section title and number (International Maritime Organization (IMO), n.d.), for example, A-2, B-1 to B-4 and, D-1 to D-5. In the following research paper, we will be focusing on the challenges and shortcomings associated with compliance with the D-2 standard of BWM. A review of existing literature on this topic as well as, tailor-made surveys and interviews disseminated to and conducted with maritime professionals were done to collect data that was then evaluated using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test method to obtain research findings from a technical, environmental and social angle. This work package in particular addresses the technical impacts of the D-2 standard. Some key findings that will be elaborated on later in greater detail include: the general sentiment of industry members when evaluating the D-1 and D-2 standards in relation to each other, the discovery of the main shortfall of the D-2 standard, the area of focus when it comes to the standardisation of BWTS or testing procedures, deficiencies in the assessment criteria of BWTS approval testing and finally, the surprising feedback from our survey respondents and interviewees regarding the IMO’s G8 guidelines and the USCG’s CFR maritime guidelines