For the most part, U.S. or foreign Flag vessels equipped with ballast tanks that have performed a ballast operation in the United States must submit a Ballast Water Management Report to the National Ballast Information Clearinghouse (NBIC), in most cases up to six hours after arrival. As part of the report, ship operators must indicate the ballast water management system that was in use for their ballast water treatment.
For the majority of vessels submitting reports, the only appropriate entries for the “Onboard BW Management System” block of the NBIC Ballast Water Management Report are:
- For USCG Type Approved systems, the US Coast Guard Approval Number, found on the certificate plate installed on the BWMS, which looks like: 162.060/#/#.
- For USCG accepted Alternative Management Systems, the AMS ID, found in the AMS acceptance letter and looks like: AMS-20##-XXX…XXX-001.
- Enter “NONE” if no USCG Type Approved BWMS or accepted AMS is installed (e.g., compliance date has not passed or the vessel qualifies for a regulatory or route exemption).
If you would like to read the entire bulletin posted by the USCG go to http://mariners.coastguard.dodlive.mil/2018/08/21/8-21-2018-onboard-bw-management-system-do-you-know-which-option-to-select-on-nbics-ballast-water-management-report/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MaritimeCommons+%28Maritime+Commons%29
