Bays, coasts and oceans - Ballast water

What is ballast water?

Ballast water is the material placed in a ship's hold to improve its stability. Ballast water is taken up or discharged when cargo is unloaded or loaded, or when ships need extra stability in response to foul weather. However, ships also pick up the plants and animals that live in the sea water. Discharge of ballast water releases these into new areas and they can become marine pests.

Victoria's domestic ballast water management

The Victorian domestic ballast water management system is designed to protect the Victorian marine environment by minimising the introduction of marine pests from ships’ ballast water.  Such introductions can create significant impacts on the community’s use of the marine environment, create additional trade restrictions and affect other growing industries, such as aquaculture.  A recent example in Port Phillip Bay is the introduction of the Northern Pacific Seastar from Tasmania, which has had a significant impact in just a few years.

The Victorian Government first introduced its domestic ballast water management arrangements into Victoria on 1 July 2004, which are outlined in the Waste Management Policy (Ship’ Ballast Water) (PDF 159KB) (the Policy). This Policy is a statutory document made under the Environment Protection Act 1970 and forms part of Victoria’s legal system.

This CD provides a users guide to assist you to understand and meet your domestic ballast water obligations in Victoria following the introduction of the Environment Protection (Ships’ Ballast Water) Regulations 2006 (PDF 139KB) (the Regulations) which came into force on 01 July 2006.

To identify how ships can meet their ballast water obligations set out in the Policy, EPA Victoria developed the Protocol for Environmental Management – Domestic Ballast Water Management in Victorian State Waters (PEM) (the PEM) (PDF 139KB) .  The PEM has recently been revised to reflect additional regulatory requirements.

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