We have revised the previous ClassNK Technical information No.TEC-1189 (dated 6 September 2019) related to the commissioning testing of ballast water management systems (BWMS) and the incorporation of contingency measures into ballast water management plans (BWMP) for Singapore-flagged ships.

This Technical Information supersedes the previous ClassNK Technical Information No.TEC-1189.

1. Commissioning Testing of Ballast Water Management Systems (Shipping Circular No. 09 of 2019)

Commissioning testing to verify the proper operation of equipment shall be carried out at the installation of any BWMS in accordance with paragraph 8 of the Guidelines for Approval of Ballast Water Management Systems (G8) or Code for Approval of Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS Code). MEPC 74 has approved a draft amendment to the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC) to conduct commissioning testing so as to demonstrate through representative sampling and indicative analysis that a BWMS is working properly, and this amendment will be adopted at MEPC 75.
Prior to the entering into force of this amendment, all Singapore-flagged ships of 400GT and above that install BWMS after 8 September 2019 will be required to collect and analyse samples of ballast water during the commissioning testing in accordance with the shipping circular; compliance this requirement, however, is not mandatory for ships less than 400GT

For more details on this circular, please refer to the attached "Shipping Circular No. 09 of 2019".

(To be continued)