International convention for the control and management of ships'ballast water and sediments, 2004

Abstract

Through this dissertation we will attempt to understand why an international norm adopted by IMO is a necessary solution for such a global problem. Indeed we will see that the implementation of a common ruleis not only in the interest of coastal countries or countries with commercial waterway access, but also in the interest of landlocked countrieswhose dependency on their rivers and lakes resources could be disturbed by ballast water discharges. And if ballast water is not the only means for theintroduction of alien species, the importance of maritime traffic and especially the amountof water that ships ballast tanks can carry, is a great factor increasing a ships’ threat due to coastal de-ballasting, a risk that is known to have irreversible consequences. We will therefore view how the 2004 IMO Convention lutes against one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity by law and the consequences of the entry into force of the same convention, after the prior study of the complex actual state of rules and regulations relating to the management of ships’ ballast water and sediments.