The Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), is poised to unlock an unprecedented estimated private sector investment of about $30b in the next few years.

The BMW was adopted in order to control and manage ships ballast and sediments. This will help reduce the harmful effects on the marine environment that are spread through aquatic micro organisms transferred from one area to another through ballasting operations of the ship.

The BWM Convention has the support of many countries and is billed to become effective in September 2017.
International Waters Coordinator at Global Environment Facility (GEF), Chris Severin, who disclosed this at a meeting of the GloBallast Global Project Task Force (GPTF), said the convention needs strong partnerships with leading nations and private sector partners to achieve the target.