Nassau, the capital of The Bahamas, recently hosted the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention).
Taking place at the National Training Agency and organised by the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency, Information and Training Center-Caribe (RAC-REMPEITC), the event took the form of a three-day workshop and was held between 31 October and 2 November.
The BMA was represented by technical officers Larez Pinder and Kenneth Carey, both from the Inspections and Surveys Department. They were joined by 28 other participants from 12 different Government and Non-Government organisations ranging from shipyards, ports and the defence force to the Ministries of Energy & Transport, and Environmental Planning & Protection. Environmental groups and educational foundations were also in attendance.
The workshop itself served to familiarise participants with the BWM Convention and focused mainly on the port and coastal state obligations. Specific items examined included: IMO’s integrated technical cooperation programme; the threats of ballast water management and the BWM Convention to national agencies; the rights and obligations of flag, port and coastal states; relevant survey and certification requirements; and, not least, port state control compliance, monitoring and enforcement, with a focus on ballast water sampling.
The two BMA representatives found the event extremely informative and they had many discussions with other participants where experiences were shared which will help inform decisions in the future.
