In an effort to force owners and operators to comply with the ballast water management convention the US Coastguard is cracking down on its ballast water management extension programme and will not grant any extensions past 2021. It has also adopted more stringent requirements for granting extensions.

Owners and operators looking to trade in US waters will now have to prove that a ship cannot comply with the regulations, and to justify why it needs an extension. They will also need to provide proof of how they intend to comply with the regulation in future – either by planning to install a type approved system at a later date, or by working with a manufacturer on a system that is going to get type approval.

“If owners do not show us why they can’t comply we’re going to deny the extension,” USCG director of regulations and standards Jeffrey Lantz told an industry audience at CMA 2017. Mr Lantz said he doubted the USCG would grant any extensions past 2021. The USCG will not even consider extension requests for 2019 and 2020 for another 18 months. Requests for extensions up to December 31, 2018 will still be considered, he said. The USCG would consider ‘mini’ extensions of up to six months to owners that can provide a basis for why the vessel cannot comply, but do not provide any information on how they intend to comply.

Mr Lantz acknowledged that no single system can fit all vessel types, but said the USCG expects owners and operators to take advantage of engineering and operational solutions and make modifications to vessels, and to communicate how they intend to get it done. “We know that in all cases, right now, because of the shortages of type approved systems there may be not be one that fits the type of ship. But we ask owners to look ahead to see how they can comply at a future date. We will pay particular attention to those owners and operators who can demonstrate matching the ship’s operating profile to USCG type approved systems.”

Existing compliance extensions dates will remain valid, Mr Lantz said. However, the USCG will no longer grant extensions for vessels that can install alternative management systems – those with IMO type approval. The exception being owners that can prove there is no AMS for their vessel which could be granted a five-year extension. “We figured that is one method or way to comply with our regulations and the industry needs to take advantage of that,” Mr Lantz said.

The US has to date received over 13,600 extension requests and granted over 11,500. Some 300 requests have been denied due to a lack of type approved systems available. Since the new policy was introduced on March 6, the USCG has granted 97 extension requests and denied 244.

The USCG is also ramping up compliance and enforcement in the field and has been working with field officers to better educate them informally about the regulations, alongside developing a formal enforcement guide. “We are committed to smooth implementation of the ballast water management regulations and to finding reasonable and practical solutions for facilitating compliance,” Mr Lantz said. “We encourage owners and operators to work with their flag state and class societies. And the treatment manufactures; it is critical that that dialogue can take place.”

The USCG approved its first ballast water management system in December 2016. There are currently three type approved systems with a fourth going through final stage of review.