BWM Convention: International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships Ballast Water and Sediments

In the 1990s, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) initiated negotiations to develop an internationally binding instrument to address the global transfer of aquatic organisms and pathogens in ships’ ballast water, to prevent harmful impacts from the introduction of non-native species into new environments. This led to the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (the BWM Convention), which was agreed in 2004, and came into force in 2017. Under the BWM Convention, vessels registered in states that are Parties to the convention are required to manage their ballast water and sediments to a certain standard. Each vessel must have a ship-specific ballast water management. Each vessel must further carry a ballast water record book that records when ballast water is taken on board and discharged into the sea or to a reception facility, how that ballast water is treated before discharge. Parties to the BWM Convention are also required to take measures to ensure vessels from non-party states entering their ports do not receive preferential treatment if they fail to comply with the same standards.