IMO's Ballast Water Management Convention will not be coming into force in 2016

The convention requires for ratification by states controlling a combined 35% of the global fleet by tonnage, however, it has now been found that despite Morocco, Indonesia and Ghana ratifying last November the threshold has not been reached.

After tonnage figures were verified it was found that the 47 countries that have ratified the convention control 34.56% of the global fleet by tonnage. Had the 35% threshold been reached the convention would have come into force on November 24, 2016, this will now not happen, and it will not come into force until at least 2017.

IMO secretary-general Kitack Lim said, 'The recent ratifications have brought the BWM Convention so very close to entry into force. While we cannot predict exactly when that will happen, I would urge countries that have not done so to ratify the BWM Convention as soon as possible so that we can establish a certain date for entry into force, and also so that it is widely accepted when it does.

'In particular, those countries with large merchant fleets that have not done so, are requested to accelerate their processes to ratify the convention.'

The convention will likely be ratified later in the year and the BWM Convention will come into force one year after it reaches the required level of ratification.