A committee meeting at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) moved strongly in favour of giving owners more time to comply with the ballast water convention this week.
As things stand owners are required to fit ballast water treatment systems, which can cost in excess of $1m, in the first statutory dry docking after September this year.
Because this comes too quickly for many owners there was strong support for a Norwegian proposal that owners be granted a two-year grace period, until September 2019, before they have to consider fitting the equipment.
