London Arbitration 6/01

Cleaning of ballast tanks - Whether owners or time-charterers liable to bear costs of removing sediments in ballast tanks caused by changing from salt water ballast to fresh water ballast in order to comply with Brazilian anti-pollution requirements

The vessel was chartered under an amended NYPE form for a 60 month period trading for world wide trading. A dispute arose in relation to expenses incurred in removing mud from the vessel’s ballast tanks. The vessel had called at the port of Munguba on the River Amazon. In accordance with Brazilian anti-pollution laws, vessels arriving for loading at Munguba were obliged to arrive with fresh water ballast because they would not be allowed to pump out salt water ballast during the loading operation. As a result, the charterers had suggested to the owners that vessels arriving at the Amazon River should change from salt water to fresh water ballast before proceeding up-river to Munguba. The owners contended that that practice caused mud to accumulate in the vessel’s ballast tanks which reduced the vessel’s ability to lift full cargoes, caused difficulty in surveying & maintaining ballast tanks, and caused difficulty in ballasting. They said that in order to remove the accumulated mud from the ballast tanks, they had to organise tank cleaning.