Article 1 Definitions

‘Administration’ means the Government of the State under whose authority the ship is operating. With respect to a ship entitled to fly a flag of any State, the Administration is the Government of that State. With respect to floating platforms engaged in exploration and exploitation of the sea-bed and subsoil thereof adjacent to the coast over which the coastal State exercises sovereign rights for the purposes of exploration and exploitation of its natural resources, including Floating Storage Units (FSUs) and Floating Production Storage and Offloading Units (FPSOs), the Administration is the Government of the coastal State concerned.

‘Ballast Water’ means water with its suspended matter taken on board a ship to control trim, list, draught, stability or stresses of the ship.

‘Ballast Water Management’ means mechanical, physical, chemical, and biological processes, either singularly or in combination, to remove, render harmless, or avoid the uptake or discharge of Harmful Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens within Ballast Water and Sediments.

‘Certificate’ means the International Ballast Water Management Certificate.

‘Committee’ means the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the Organization.

‘Convention’ means the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments.

‘Gross tonnage’ means the gross tonnage calculated in accordance with the tonnage measurement regulations contained in Annex I to the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 or any successor Convention.

‘Harmful Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens’ means aquatic organisms or pathogens which, if introduced into the sea including estuaries, or into fresh water courses, may create hazards to the environment, human health, property or resources, impair biological diversity or interfere with other legitimate uses of such areas.

‘Organization’ means the International Maritime Organization.

‘Secretary-General’ means the Secretary-General of the Organization.

‘Sediments’ means matter settled out of Ballast Water within a ship.

‘Ship’ means a vessel of any type whatsoever operating in the aquatic environment and includes submersibles, floating craft, floating platforms, FSUs and FPSOs.