Paris and Tokyo MoUs

Member States of the Tokyo and the Paris Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on Port State Control (PSC) have recently announced that the three month Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Ballast Water Management (BWM) will commence 1 September 2025 and end 30 November 2025.

The purpose of the campaign is “to determine if ships meet the requirements of the Convention” and the following areas will be verified during inspections:

• Proper certification for BWM Convention;
• Approval and update of the Ballast Water Management Plan (BWMP);
• Crew familiarisation in the implementation of the BWMP;
• Ballast Water Management System approval and its operation;
• Records of Ballast Water Record Book (BWRB);
• Ballast water sediment management; and
• Valid exemptions, if any.

A ship will be subject to only one inspection under this CIC during the period of the campaign. Port State Control Officers (PSCO’s) will use a predefined questionnaire as published by the Tokyo MoU which is included in page 4 of the Joint Concentrated Inspection Campaign Notice.

Whilst the pre-defined questions address limited areas of the BWM requirements, Members are advised to bring details of this CIC to the attention of their ship masters, with guidance to review all aspects of the Ballast Water Management Convention and verify full compliance with the BWM requirements.

If, during the course of a PSC inspection deficiencies are identified, actions by the Port State may vary from “recording a deficiency and instructing the master to rectify it within a certain period of time, to detaining the ship until the serious deficiencies have been rectified. Inspection results will be published on the websites of the Tokyo and Paris MoU”.

The collated results of the campaign will be analysed, and findings presented to the governing bodies of both MoUs for possible submission to the International Maritime Organisation.