RECALLING Article 38(a) of the Convention on the International
Maritime Organization concerning the functions of the Marine Environment
Protection Committee conferred upon it by the international conventions
for the prevention and control of marine pollution,
RECALLING ALSO that the International Conference on Ballast
Water Management for Ships held in February 2004 adopted the International
Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water
and Sediments, 2004 (the Ballast Water Management
Convention) together with four Conference resolutions,
NOTING that Regulation A-2 of
the Ballast Water Management Convention requires that discharge of
ballast water shall only be conducted through Ballast Water Management
in accordance with the provisions of the Annex to the Convention,
NOTING FURTHER that Regulation
D-1 of the Ballast Water Management Convention stipulates that
ships performing ballast water exchange shall do so with an efficiency
of at least 95 per cent volumetric exchange of ballast water and that
MEPC 51 identified the need for additional guidance on design and
construction standards for ships conducting ballast water exchange,
NOTING ALSO that resolution 1 adopted by the International
Conference on Ballast Water Management for Ships invited the Organization
to develop the Guidelines for uniform application of the Convention
as a matter of urgency,
HAVING CONSIDERED, at its fifty-fifth session, the draft
Guidelines for ballast water exchange design and construction standards
(G11) developed by the Ballast Water Working Group, and the recommendation
made by the Sub-Committee on Bulk Liquids and Gases at its tenth session,
1. ADOPTS the Guidelines for ballast water exchange
design and construction standards (G11);
2. INVITES Governments to apply the Guidelines
as soon as possible, or when the Convention becomes applicable to
them; and
3. AGREES to keep the Guidelines under review.