EPA Victoria, the only state in Australia with domestic ballast water regulations, has issued six Penalty Infringement Notices (PINs) and ten Official Warnings for breaches of the Environment Protection (Ships’ Ballast Water) Regulations 2006.
Ballast water is carried by ships to improve stability, balance and trim and is taken up or discharged when cargo is unloaded or loaded.
EPA Chief Executive Officer Nial Finegan said that when ships took on ballast water, plant and animal organisms living in the ocean were also picked up.
“Discharge of these organisms into new areas can mean they become marine pests, an example being the Northern Pacific seastar from Tasmania discovered in Port Phillip Bay in the 1990s,” Mr Finegan said.
Mr Finegan said vessels that had sourced ballast outside of Victorian waters and intended to discharge it, must conduct an appropriate exchange 12 nautical miles or more from the coastline, or obtain a risk assessment, showing the ballast to be low risk, through the Australian Ballast Water Management Information System (ABWMIS).
“EPA approval is required prior to any vessel discharging domestic or exchanged domestic ballast in Victorian state waters,” he said.
“Failure to provide a correct and timely ballast water report form and log, or to discharge domestic or exchanged domestic ballast in Victorian waters without EPA approval is an offence and may be subject to EPA’s compliance and enforcement policy.”
Mr Finegan said EPA inspected about 10 per cent of all vessels visiting Victoria to assess compliance with ballast water regulations.
“Victorian domestic ballast water management arrangements were introduced in 2004 and are outlined in the Waste Management Policy (Ships’ Ballast Water),” he said.
EPA’s Protocol for environmental management: Domestic ballast water management in Victorian state waters explains how ships can meet their ballast water obligations set out in the policy.