Boom time ahead for equipment suppliers, yards

FOR quite a while, shipping industry organisations have been warning that shipowners would face a surge in costs to meet new regulations.

There has been uncertainty, until now, about one of the main factors that will affect shipowners - the need to fit equipment to eradicate organisms in ballast water.

Now, though, as the senior claims executive of liability insurer UK P&I Club, Jacqueline Tan, says, the industry must move quickly to prepare for the strict ballast water management controls coming into force.