Further to Bulletin 6 of 6/97, Members are advised that the SIPBS (State Inspection for Protection of the Black Sea) are continuing to take infringements of the  ballast water regulations very seriously.

We have recently had another experience of a Member's ship being heavily fined in Yuzhny. Upon arrival, the master informed the agent that there was no ballast on board. However a draft survey prior to loading showed that in fact the vessel actually had some 2000mt on board. A visit by the SIPBS on the following day revealed the ship to be pumping out this ballast !!!

Local regulations require the Master to inform the agent of all ballast on board on arrival. This information is passed to the SIPBS and an inspector attends on board to take samples to see if it is clean enough for discharge.

In the case in question, by the time the inspectors were aware of the ballast on board, most had been discharged leaving only the ballast remains. Samples of these remains were taken away for analysis and not surprisingly found dirty. The vessel was then fined as if all the ballast had been in dirty condition. The fine was calculated at USD 41,782 for the ship and USD 720 each for both the master and chief engineer.

This case has clearly been made worse by the Master not declaring the amount of ballast on arrival. We strongly recommend that Members advise their crews to abide by local rules and not give the SIPBS any excuse to exacerbate the problem.

Source of information :

Anne Marie Castle L2