Submit BWM Report

DOES MY VESSEL NEED TO SUBMIT A BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT REPORT?

Ballast Water Management Report submission is MANDATORY unless exempted -- see 33 CFR 151.2015 Exemptions. Ship Arrivals fall into one of 4 main populations -- PLEASE READ THESE DESCRIPTIONS CAREFULLY:

  1. For any vessel that is equipped with ballast water tanks and bound for ports or places in the United States: Submit a Ballast Water Management Report (BWMR) to the NBIC no later than 6 hours after arrival at the port or place of destination, or prior to departure from that port or place of destination, whichever is earlier.
  2. Any vessel bound for the Great Lakes from outside the EEZ (i.e., transiting the Saint Lawrence Seaway) must be aware of Transport Canada, US Coast Guard and Seaway Ballast Water Regulations. To meet US Coast Guard regulations, submit a BWMR at least 24 hours before the vessel arrives in Montreal, Quebec. Non-US/non-Canadian flag vessels may complete the St. Lawrence Seaway ballast water reporting form and submit it in accordance with the applicable Seaway notice as an alternative to this requirement.
    Note: The St. Lawrence Seaway ballast water reporting form is not available at the NBIC website.
  3. Any vessel bound for the Hudson River north of the George Washington Bridge entering from outside the EEZ: Submit the BWMR to NBIC at least 24 hours before the vessel enters New York, NY.
  4. A fifth population of vessels may qualify for the Coast Guard's Equivalent Reporting Program (ERP).The ERP program is restricted to NON-SEAGOING VESSELS THAT OPERATE EXCLUSIVELY WITHIN THE US/CANADIAN EEZs, but participation requires special permission from the US Coast Guard. Single vessels must make 10 or more arrivals per month or fleets of vessels must make 50 or more arrivals per month to be considered by USCG for admission into the ERP. Applications for the ERP are available on the ERP page. NOTE: Until a vessel receives permission from USCG and a customized ERP BWMR reporting form from the NBIC, vessels must submit the BWMR described below.

If any information associated with the arrival or ballast operations changes following submission of your BWMR, a corrected BWMR must be submitted for that arrival.

BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT REPORTING FORMS

  1. Web App BWMR form. The Web APP BWMR form has many advantages: 1) it remembers static information (e.g., Vessel Information) and auto-populates fields when the user starts a new report for a vessel. 2) It allows ships to access previously submitted BWMRs and easily edit them to submit a corrected report. 3) Because the Web App connects to the NBIC information system with your Internet Browser, up-to-date information will be accessible to the user via type ahead pull-down menus that will significantly reduce required keystrokes. 4) If new versions of the Web App BWMR form are required, user accounts will be automatically updated with no special requirements by the user.
  2. PDF BWMR form. The PDF form can be filled in off-line, and can be sent to NBIC via e-mail, or submitted on-line, by clicking a button on the form. Please note that Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader is required to submit the PDF form in the correct format. No other PDF software is currently supported at the moment.

NBIC has no regulatory authority over vessel ballast operations. The electronic submission of ballast water reporting forms to the NBIC may result in the submitter receiving an electronic confirmation of a successful reporting form submission; however, this notice of receipt is not an approval to conduct ballasting operations. All vessel masters, owners, operators, agents or persons in charge are reminded that they are required to conduct ballast water operations in accordance with the applicable sections of 33 CFR 151 regardless of whether they have received confirmation of a successful ballast water reporting form submission.