Guidelines for Ballast Water Exchange and Sediment Management in Wider Caribbean Region Areas

The International Maritime Organization (IMO), announced that the guidelines for Ballast Water Exchange and Sediment Management in Wider Caribbean Region Areas, which were adopted through BWM.3-Circ.2 on 5 June 2018, are no longer applicable and have been withdrawn since the 21st of April 2022.

C22026 | 21 April 2022

NOTICE TO
Ship Owners/ Managers/ Operators | Surveyors/Auditors

The Government of Jamaica on behalf of the following Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (Cartagena Convention): Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, El Salvador, the Netherlands, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, informed that the Guidelines disseminated by means of BWM.3/Circ.2, dated June 5, 2018, which had been developed as an interim measure, are no longer applicable and have been withdrawn.

The Guidelines were adopted by the Regional Task Force on the Ratification and Interpretation of the IMO Convention on Ballast Water Management on behalf of the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (Cartagena Convention).

Additionally, the Guidelines were developed as an interim measure for ships conducting ballast water exchange when entering and operating in the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR) having regard to the low level of accession to Ballast Water Management Convention, 2004 for the majority of the States in the WCR at that time.

With the subsequent ratification and coming into force of the Ballast Water Management Convention for a number of States in the WCR, the Guidelines have been reviewed and found to be no longer relevant or applicable in relation to the implementation of the Convention in the region.

Act now

Ship Owners / Managers / Operators of vessels engaged in Wider Caribbean Region areas are encouraged to take into consideration the above guidelines which have been withdrawn since the 21st of April 2022 and to ensure compliance with the applicable requirements of the Ballast Water Management Convention.