PRESS / GENERAL RELEASES
INTERTANKO opens its Ports with Challenging Water Quality (PCWQ) Database to industry stakeholders
23 October 2024
24 October 2024
For immediate release
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INTERTANKO is opening its Ports with Challenging Water Quality (PCWQ) Database (https://www.intertanko.com/search-article/articleview/pcwq-database) to non-members in a bid to increase the quantity and applicability, further representing the daily issues that ballast water management systems are facing in PCWQ. From 24 October any shipowner can contribute to the results, by submitting their own reports.
The database is designed to support vessels calling at ports that cause Ballast Water Management Systems (BWMS) to run sub-optimally due to challenging water quality conditions when taking on ballast. The database will aid ships in their due diligence and voyage planning preparation and facilitate communication with both port State control (PSC) authorities and flag Administrations.
Opening this database to the IMO Member States, and all other industry stakeholders will increase the quality and quantity of data and build a more accurate picture of the situation globally. This will help inform decisions at a regulatory level and at a regional and national level in identifying likely ports where challenging water quality may occur.
When used in conjunction with the IMO’s interim PCWQ Guidance (https://www.intertanko.com/images/topics-issues/environment/2024/MEPC38781-_PCWQ_Guidance.pdf), the information in the database can help both Government authorities and shipowners work together to find appropriate and practical solutions.
“We are asking all owners to get involved,” says INTERTANKO’s Will Sturdy as “this tool can help to clear the muddy waters in Ballast Water Management Operation and Enforcement in Ports with Challenging Water Quality. Increasing the dataset will also allow the industry and regulators to get a clearer picture of the scale of the problem and allow better decision making onboard and at the port.”
The tool is intended to support compliance with the D-2 discharge standard by allowing ships to better prepare for ports with challenging water quality situations and to implement solutions before the next port of call. The data can be used to supplement information essential to both port State authorities and flag Administrations when considering effective alternative compliance arrangements on the next voyage. Addressing such factors as these, and the resulting solutions, should enable much smoother, and environmentally safe, discharge of ballast water taken from PCWQ.
To view the results from the database, click here.
Contact: William Sturdy – Assistant Manager, Environment; T: +44 (0) 20 7977 7020
