The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Wednesday, Sept. 7, that it has been hosting international Port State Control (PSC) experts to help train Filipino maritime stakeholders on the management of ballast water and anti-fouling systems.
Vice Adm. Eduardo Fabricante, PCG deputy commandant for operations, said the PSC Expert Mission 2022 is being held in Manila from Sept. 5 to 9 with support from experts from the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Asia-Pacific Region (Tokyo MOU), an inter-governmental co-operative organization which aims to eliminate substandard shipping in the region.
The Tokyo MOU dispatched three experts from Japan and Australia to provide maritime stakeholders in the government and industry with an “intensive training on implementing ballast water management and anti-fouling systems convention.”
Ballast water management refers to the mechanical, physical, chemical, and biological processes that are usually undertaken by ships to avoid discharging harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens in saltwater that are contained in its ballast tanks.
Meanwhile, an anti-fouling system refers to a coating, paint, surface treatment, or device used on a ship to control or prevent the attachment of unwanted organisms. In 2001, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) established a treaty now known as the “International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-Fouling Systems in Ships” to prohibit the use on ships of harmful anti-fouling paints and other anti-fouling systems containing harmful substances.
“The endeavor to host the mission is taking hold on the need to establish port state control implementation to higher standards and to complete globally through the advancement of knowledge and capabilities,” the PCG said.
Fabricante thanked the Tokyo MOU experts for participating in this year’s PSC Expert Mission, which had the theme “Pilot Trial in the Implementation of CME Procedures in Selected Key Ports under the MEPSEAS Project.”
The expert mission was launched by the PCG’s Maritime Safety Services Command (MSSC) and IMO’s National Port State Control Services Command with support from the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA).