Applicability
All ships calling at US ports and planning to discharge ballast water must carry out ballast water exchange or treatment in addition to sediment management. However, ballast water exchange will only be allowed until the implementation dates for treatment systems shown in Table:
Exemptions
The following vessels are exempt from ballast water management requirements, reporting requirements, and recordkeeping requirements:
- crude oil tankers engaged in coastwise trade; and
- vessels which operate exclusively within one ‘Captain of the Port’ (COTP) zone
The following vessels are exempt only from ballast water management requirements