The member Authorities of the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Black Sea Region (BS MoU) will conduct a Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Ballast Water Management from 1 September to 30 November 2025.

The campaign has been initiated in order to promote the effective and consistent implementation of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004 (BWM Convention), under the coordination of the Maritime Administration of Türkiye.

The campaign will focus on Proper certification in accordance with the 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. These aspects will be examined during regular port State control inspections and each ship will be subject to only one inspection under this CIC during the period of the campaign.

Port State Control Officers (PSCOs) will utilize a pre-defined questionnaire, developed jointly by the Paris and Tokyo MoUs, to evaluate compliance. In the event of deficiencies are identified, actions by the PSCOs may vary, ranging from recording a deficiency and instructing the master to rectify it within a certain period to detaining the ship until serious deficiencies have been rectified.

All inspections will be entered into the Black Sea Information System (BSIS) and inspection results will be available for public access on the MoU website.

The campaign will be conducted simultaneously with the Paris and Tokyo Memorandums and other regional PSC regimes and same cheklist will be used during the CIC.