Ballast Water Management Course Launched in Cooperation with IMO
The IMO e-learning course on Ballast Water Management (BWM) and Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement was launched on 26 June during the Technical Cooperation Committee meeting (TC74). This initiative, developed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in collaboration with the World Maritime University (WMU), supports the IMO's capacity development mission and marks a significant step in safeguarding our oceans and marine ecosystems.
Since the BWM Convention’s entry into force in September 2017, the focus has been on its effective implementation. In this regard, for a number of years, the IMO Secretariat has been implementing various capacity development activities to support Member States, which now also includes this ballast water management e-learning course.
The course is built on material used during regional and national capacity development workshops implemented under the auspices of IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP), and is designed for the staff of national authorities responsible for the prevention and control of pollution from ships. To further the aims of the ITCP and maximize the reach of the course, it is open to the public so that all stakeholders in the maritime community, and beyond, have the opportunity to learn about IMO’s work to prevent the transfer of invasive aquatic species from ballast water.
The course places emphasis on interactive activities with a focus on the various aspects of compliance monitoring and enforcement under the BWM Convention, including background lessons on the harmful effects of invasive species, an overview of the Convention and related guidelines, and practical information regarding flag State survey and certification, port State control and risk assessments.
A growing number of e-learning courses have been developed by WMU in collaboration with IMO to extend the efforts of the ITCP to build online capacity development opportunities that are accessible to anyone, anywhere, at any time. The courses released in collaboration to date include an Introduction to Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation, an Introduction to Marine Biofouling: Impacts and Management of Risks, Maritime Single Window Implementation, Training for Auditors Under the IMO Member State Audit Scheme, and ISM Code (Spanish). Enrollments for these courses are approaching 11 000 participants from 188 countries. Additional courses are planned for release in 2024.
WMU supports IMO in shaping the e-learning strategy, employing a process-driven and results-oriented approach that enables IMO to address evolving education and training demands from the Member States. The adoption of educational technology, empowers both institutions to respond to emerging learning needs.
The e-learning courses are hosted on the new IMO Learning Management System (LMS) platform that can be accessed through the IMO website or the following URL: https://lms.imo.org/moodle310/
