The Australian Government's Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment has announced that new requirements for managing biofouling on international vessels arriving in Australia will begin on 15 June 2022.

Operators of all vessels subject to biosecurity control will be required to provide information on how biofouling has been managed prior to arriving in Australian territorial seas. This information will need to be reported through the department's Maritime Arrivals Reporting System (MARS).
A vessel operator that has not applied one of the following three accepted biofouling management practices will be subject to further questions and assessment of the biosecurity risk associated with biofouling on the vessel.

1. Implementation of an effective biofouling management plan; or
2. Cleaned all biofouling within 30 days prior to arriving in Australian territory; or
3. Implementation of an alternative biofouling management method pre-approved by the department.

Specific information concerning the requirements is available on the following official Australian Government websites.

https://www.awe.gov.au/biofouling
https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Australian-biofouling-management-requirements.pdf

According to the above, a biofouling management plan developed consistent with Resolution MEPC.207(62) will be sufficient to meet Australia's new biofouling management requirements. Templates for biofouling management plans published by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMAREST) can be found on the following official IMAREST website. Please note that it is not a requirement to have a biofouling management plan approved by a classification society.

https://www.imarest.org/special-interest-groups/biofouling-management/3505-template-for-biofouling-management-plan

(To be continued)