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Environmental complianceLesson 4 of 6

Ballast water: D-1, D-2 and the BWMS Code

You will be able to say which ballast water standard your ship must meet, what makes its treatment system legal, and what to do when it cannot treat.

15 minutes · For signed-up learners, free · Rules checked 20 October 2026

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From 1 September to 30 November 2025, port state control officers in the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea ran a joint campaign on ballast water management. The Tokyo MOU alone carried out 6,930 campaign inspections. The question ships failed most often, and the one that led to most campaign detentions, was the simplest: “Is the BWMS operational?”10 In the Black Sea region about 89% of all non-compliances fell under three questions: whether the ballast water management system (BWMS) works, whether the Ballast Water Record Book (BWRB) is properly kept, and whether the crew know the Ballast Water Management Plan (BWMP).11

The paperwork side of ballast water is mature. The hard part is a treatment system that has to kill or remove organisms in whatever water the ship finds, at full ballast rate, years after installation. This lesson covers the standards, which ship must meet which, how a BWMS is approved, what to do when it cannot cope, and the convention review now under way.

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The rest of this lesson, the interactive A bulk carrier, its BWMS and a muddy river port and the quiz are open to signed-up learners. It's free, takes a minute, and opens every lesson in all 14 courses.

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In this lesson

  • Try it: A bulk carrier, its BWMS and a muddy river port
  • In plain words
  • In detail
  • What the rules say
  • Flag and class notes
  • Key numbers
  • What inspectors find
  • Questions people ask
  • Quiz: 6 questions

Sources

  1. 1 International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 (text adopted by the Conference, BWM/CONF/36 dated 16 February 2004; original text, later amended), annex regulations B-2, B-4, D-1, D-2, D-3 and E-1. Copy published by the Hong Kong Marine Department. https://mardep.gov.hk/filemanager/en/share/aboutus/pdf/scc/scc_p149a.pdf
  2. 2 IMO Resolution MEPC.297(72), Amendments to the BWM Convention (implementation schedule of ballast water management for ships, regulation B-3), adopted 13 April 2018, in force 13 October 2019, annex paragraphs 1 to 10. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/MEPCDocuments/MEPC.297(72).pdf
  3. 3 IMO Resolution MEPC.296(72), Amendments to the BWM Convention (BWMS Code, regulations A-1 and D-3), adopted 13 April 2018, in force 13 October 2019, annex. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/MEPCDocuments/MEPC.296(72).pdf
  4. 4 IMO Resolution MEPC.300(72), Code for Approval of Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS Code), adopted 13 April 2018, operative paragraphs 2, 4 and 5, and annex paragraphs 4.17 to 4.21, 6.5, 7.1 to 7.3 and 8.2 to 8.3. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/MEPCDocuments/MEPC.300(72).pdf
  5. 5 IMO Resolution MEPC.369(80), Amendments to the BWM Convention (Form of Ballast Water Record Book, appendix II), adopted 7 July 2023, in force 1 February 2025. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/MEPCDocuments/MEPC.369(80).pdf
  6. 6 IMO Resolution MEPC.290(71), The experience-building phase associated with the BWM Convention, adopted 7 July 2017, operative paragraph 4. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/MEPCDocuments/MEPC.290(71).pdf
  7. 7 IMO Resolution MEPC.387(81), Interim guidance on the application of the BWM Convention to ships operating in challenging water quality conditions, adopted 22 March 2024, operative paragraph 3 and annex paragraphs 5 to 13 and 47 to 49. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/MEPCDocuments/MEPC.387(81).pdf
  8. 8 ABS, Regulatory News: IMO MEPC 84 Brief, 1 May 2026, section Ballast water management: Review of the Ballast Water Management Convention and Unified Interpretation to regulation D-3. https://ww2.eagle.org/content/dam/eagle/regulatory-news/2026/ABS-MEPC-84-Brief.pdf
  9. 9 IMO Resolution MEPC.409(84), 2026 Guidelines for ballast water management and development of ballast water management plans (G4), adopted 1 May 2026. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/MEPCDocuments/MEPC.409(84).pdf
  10. 10 Tokyo MOU Secretariat, Press release: Preliminary results of the CIC on Ballast Water Management 2025, 17 March 2026. https://www.tokyo-mou.org/press-releases/2026/03/17/preliminary-results-of-cic-on-ballast-water-management-2004
  11. 11 Black Sea MoU Secretariat, Press release: Preliminary results of the CIC on Ballast Water Management, 19 February 2026. https://bsmou.org/downloads/press-releases/BS%20MoU%20Press%20Release%20CIC%20on%20Ballast%20Water%20Management.pdf
  12. 12 Mediterranean MoU Secretariat, Press release PR3-2026 on the CIC on the Ballast Water Management Convention, 2 April 2026. https://www.medmou.org/Documents/PR3-2026.pdf
  13. 13 US Code of Federal Regulations, 33 CFR 151.2025, Ballast water management requirements, paragraph (a). https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/33/151.2025

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