SYSTEM NOW THE MAIN CAUSE OF BALLAST WATER TREATMENT COMPLIANCE DETENTIONS

Results from last year’s Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on ballast water management has revealed a marked change in regulatory compliance failures, which now include the actual performance, operation, and maintenance of installed ballast water treatment systems.

According to Charlène Ceresola, BWT Project Manager and Regulatory expert at BIO-UV Group, Port State Control (PSC) data show that while documentation and record-keeping issues remain widespread, the most serious non-compliances are technical in nature.

“When you look at the total number of compliance failures, documentation still ranks high,” she explains. “But once you focus specifically on deficiencies serious enough to result in a ship being detained, the majority are associated with the ballast water treatment system itself.”

On the 3-month period, she says the ballast water system itself accounts for 46% of all detainable deficiencies, followed by deficiencies in crew training (21%) and the Ballast Water Management Plan (15%).

As in 2024, the most frequent deficiencies reported by the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State control related to poor ballast water record book-keeping, inadequate crew training, system unfamiliarity, and invalid or missing certificates.

“The number does not imply widespread system failure, but it does mean that when an issue escalates to the point of detention, it is very often because the system has been poorly maintained and not performing as it should,” Ceresola says. “Ship managers and crews must start addressing these gaps in system upkeep; it will cost them substantially more than a new UV lamp.”

Ceresola notes spare part availability has emerged as a decisive factor behind corrective actions, with some operators struggling to find components for legacy systems.

“The CIC results have highlighted how quickly minor issues can escalate when systems are poorly maintained or when crews lack the tools or system knowledge. “You cannot fix a neglected system the day before an inspection,” she says. “If you do not have the spare parts, there is no way to catch up overnight.”

She says ballast water training and familiarization remain uneven across the industry and are often not yet treated as a core operational competence.

“Work is underway at IMO level to better integrate ballast water management into standard maritime education and certification frameworks, but in the meantime, the responsibility rests with ship management. Crews must be properly trained on the specific BWTS installed onboard and regularly refreshed to account for turnover and operational drift.”

Alongside these findings, the CIC results have also reinforced concern that some manufacturers can be unresponsive to customer service and after sales requirements, leaving shipowners exposed when inspections identify weaknesses onboard.

“Reliable support, spare-parts availability, on-going system training on are now critical elements of compliance, not optional extras,” she says. “More suppliers do need to commit to aftersales support. This will ensure system performance remains compliant throughout the system’s life, while refresher familiarisation addresses the realities of crew turnover. This is how PSC detentions are avoided.