1 Each ship shall have on board a Ballast Water
record book that may be an electronic record system, or that may be
integrated into another record book or system and, which shall at
least contain the information specified in Appendix
II.
2 Ballast Water record book entries shall be maintained
on board the ship for a minimum period of two years after the last
entry has been made and thereafter in the Company's control for a
minimum period of three years.
3 In the event of the discharge of Ballast Water
pursuant to regulations A-3, A-4 or B-3.6 or
in the event of other accidental or exceptional discharge of Ballast
Water not otherwise exempted by this Convention, an entry shall be
made in the Ballast Water record book describing the circumstances
of, and the reason for, the discharge.
4 The Ballast Water record book shall be kept
readily available for inspection at all reasonable times and, in the
case of an unmanned ship under tow, may be kept on the towing ship.
5 Each operation concerning Ballast Water shall
be fully recorded without delay in the Ballast Water record book.
Each entry shall be signed by the officer in charge of the operation
concerned and each completed page shall be signed by the master. The
entries in the Ballast Water record book shall be in a working language
of the ship. If that language is not English, French or Spanish the
entries shall contain a translation into one of those languages. When
entries in an official national language of the State whose flag the
ship is entitled to fly are also used, these shall prevail in case
of a dispute or discrepancy.
6 Officers duly authorized by a Party may inspect
the Ballast Water record book on board any ship to which this regulation
applies while the ship is in its port or offshore terminal, and may
make a copy of any entry, and require the master to certify that the
copy is a true copy. Any copy so certified shall be admissible in
any judicial proceeding as evidence of the facts stated in the entry.
The inspection of a Ballast Water record book and the taking of a
certified copy shall be performed as expeditiously as possible without
causing the ship to be unduly delayed.