Harmonisation of statutory certification is necessary to give shipyards the time required to install ballast water treatment systems and enable regulatory compliance.
According to Optimarin and DNV GL, shipowners that choose to decouple their International Oil Pollution Prevention certificate from their Harmonised System of Survey and Certification will increase pressure on shipyards and may make the implementation schedule unrealistic.
Some flag states allow shipowners to extend the deadline before which they must install a ballast water treatment system by scheduling their IOPP renewal survey for before the convention enters into force on September 8, 2017. This means they could gain an additional five years for compliance.
But according to Tore Andersen, CEO of Norwegian ballast water treatment system maker Optimarin, decoupling could present real problems for the implementation schedule.
Eirik Nyhus, Director, environment and international regulatory affairs at DNV GL agreed and told journalists in Oslo recently that industry is likely to find itself with an implementation schedule that is really not feasible.
Before now, it was difficult, but probably doable, said Nyhus. Now, however he thinks that with this rescheduling, the industry is likely to see a clustering of retrofits towards the end of the distribution timetable, around 2021, which will make it very difficult for shipyards to fill the required quota.
According to Nyhus, industry needs certainty on this implementation schedule, something that has been sorely lacking for some time now.
Andersen said his company, Optimarim, which achieved USCG type approval for its system in December last year, is working to reduce the time it takes for shipowners and operators to obtain its OBS BWTS. This should help ease the pressure on shipyards if demands towards 2021 build as a result of decoupling.
However, despite increased interest in its systems since September 8 last year, when Finland triggered the one year period before the convention coming into force, it has yet to see this replicated in terms of orders, indicating a lack of urgency in purchasing and obtaining a system immediately.
Fathom-News
editor@fathom-mi.com
