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Document ID ca-tiii-2022-03-28 Title Tier III - Work Instructions – Completion of the Canadian Ballast Water Reporting Form URL https://tc.canada.ca/en/marine-transportation/publications/marine-safety-management-system/tier-iii-work-instructions/completion-canadian-ballast-water-reporting-form Jurisdiction /ca Subdomain(s) none Language Status completed Analyzed at 2026-05-12 03:35:27.172831+00:00 Relevance inventory_targeted_fetch

34 Qualitative 16 Quantitative 42 Definitions

Q Qualitative Requirements (34)

Req ID	Category	Intent	Legal Status	Name	Subdomain(s)	Context	Conditions	Confidence
#Q001	reporting	reporting	mandatory	BWRF Submission Mandate	other	The purpose of this work instruction is to establish common understanding and achieving harmonization in the Canadian Ballast Water Reporting Form (BWRF) completion which must be submitted by the master of a vessel that is bound for a port, offshore terminal, or anchorage area in Canada to Transport Canada Marine Safety and Security (TCMSS) in accordance with the Ballast Water Regulations (The Regulations).	Vessel is bound for a port, offshore terminal, or anchorage area in Canada	high
#Q002	reporting	reporting	recommended	Report All Tanks Request	other	TCMSS requests that all vessels submit a BWRF, reporting all tanks regardless of their ballast or de-ballasting intentions, in order that the Transport Canada Marine Safety and Security (TCMSS) may provide timely advice to the vessel to ensure compliance with the Regulations should they be required to discharge or uptake ballast water later on in the voyage.		high
#Q003	reporting	reporting	guidance	BWRF Form Length Selection	other	Please use the shortest form which allows for the total number of tanks and holds recorded in the vessel’s ballast water management plan (BWMP).		high
#Q004	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Current Form Version Mandate	other	To fully comply with all reporting requirements, vessel’s master must use the current version of the Canadian BWRF available at the time of the submission.		high
#Q005	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Active PDF Submission Requirement	other	The BWRF shall be sent as an “Active” PDF using “save” or “ save as” file options to enable data entry software.		high
#Q006	prohibition	reporting	mandatory	Scanned Forms Prohibition	other	Forms which have been “scanned” and then attached will NOT be accepted.		high
#Q007	prohibition	reporting	mandatory	Printed PDF Forms Prohibition	other	Forms “Printed to PDF “will NOT be accepted.		high
#Q008	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Fillable Fields Requirement	other	Only data contained in “Fillable Fields” is accepted, “Non-Editable” forms cannot be accepted by TCMSS therefore the vessel will be required to re-submit as an “Active” PDF.		high
#Q009	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Mandatory Form Field Completion	other	All fields shall be filled in, even if the values are zero or NA.		high
#Q010	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Record Source of All Ballast Tanks	other	The dates and sources of ALL ballast tanks are to be recorded whether empty, having residuals or ballasted.		high
#Q011	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Electronic Forwarding to TCMSS	other	Once the BWRF is completed by the Master, an electronic copy is to be forwarded to TCMSS in the manner described in the Ship Safety Bulletin #07/2022 - Instructions for submitting Canadian Ballast Water Reporting Form		high
#Q012	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Standardized Date Formatting	other	All dates shall be entered in the format of yyyy-mm-dd (separating year, month and date by a “- “).		high
#Q013	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Amended Form Submission Requirement	other	Amended forms are to be submitted if there are any changes to the original ballast water reporting form. This could include changes in the “Arrival Date,” “Arrival Port” or planned ballast discharges. An amended form is to be submitted if the actual ballast discharged is different from the originally reported discharge.	If there are any changes to the original ballast water reporting form	high
#Q014	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Tug and Barge Naming Format	other	In case of tug and barge operation (pull, push, sideway or an articulated tug and Barge), please enter both vessel names, separated by a hyphen (-) . Do not add additional extension such as “M/V” (Motor Vessel), “M/S” (Motor Ship) or “T/S” (Tanker Ship / Tall Ship).	In case of tug and barge operation	high
#Q015	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Flag State Formatting and Abbreviations	other	Enter the full name of the State or territory whose flag the vessel is flying at the moment of the BWRF submission. No abbreviations will be accepted.		high
#Q016	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Port Field Formatting and Abbreviations	other	All “port” fields should contain only the name of the port and not the country. No abbreviations shall be used.		high
#Q017	reporting	reporting	mandatory	UNLOCODE Requirements for Ports	other	If the port is entered, the proper UNLOCODE at the following link shall be used as a preferred approach for standardization and to avoid errors: https://unece.org/trade/cefact/unlocode-code-list-country-and-territory. If UNLOCODE is not available, or offshore terminal or anchorage area is entered, No abbreviation shall be used.	If the port is entered	high
#Q018	reporting	reporting	recommended	Volume Unit Recommendation	other	Volume to be recorded should be in cubic meters (m3) only.		high
#Q019	prohibition	reporting	mandatory	Exclusion of Residual Ballast Water or Sediments	other	Do not include ballast tanks carrying only residual ballast water or sediment.		high
#Q020	reporting	reporting	mandatory	D-2 Regulation Date Requirement	other	Fill all fields – especially taking care to fill out the field with the “Date required to meet Regulations D-2” as established under the Convention or the Regulations, as applicable.		high
#Q021	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Last Survey Non-Applicable Format	other	Should none of these has been performed “N/A” must be recorded under this item.	If none of the surveys/endorsements have been performed	high
#Q022	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Record All Tanks Regardless of Intentions	other	Record information for all ballast tanks/holds regardless of ballast water management intentions in the section 5 tables (Ballast Water sources are the most recent uptakes prior to any ballast water management practices).		high
#Q023	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Blank Proposed BW Discharge Columns	other	If no discharges are planned for the current planned trip, columns 15 to 18 in subsection “Proposed BW Discharge” are to remain blank.	If no discharges are planned for the current planned trip	high
#Q024	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Latitude and Longitude Standard Format	other	All position (latitude and longitude) shall be entered in the format: 00 00 N or 00 00 S; Longitude (examples: 000 00 W or 000 00 E). Latitude (examples: 56 32 N or 56 32 S); Longitude examples: 016 25 W or 159 42 E must be used.		high
#Q025	reporting	reporting	mandatory	BW Management Practices Columns Conditional Entry	other	Complete this column only if exchange (D-1 only or D-1+D-2) or saltwater flushing has been conducted.	Only if exchange or saltwater flushing has been conducted	high
#Q026	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Proposed BW Discharge Columns Conditional Entry	other	Complete columns under the general heading of “Proposed BW Discharge” only if de-ballasting will take place in waters under Canadian jurisdiction.	Only if de-ballasting will take place in waters under Canadian jurisdiction	high
#Q027	prohibition	reporting	mandatory	Prohibition of Vague Discharge Estimates	other	Do not enter “Depends on cargo operations” or similar statements.		high
#Q028	reporting	reporting	mandatory	State and Province Abbreviations	other	Abbreviations to be used are as follows: British Columbia – BC; Illinois – IL; Indiana – IN; Michigan – MI; Minnesota – MN; New Brunswick – NB; New York – NY; Newfoundland – NL. Northwest Territories – NT; Nova Scotia – NS; Nunavut – NU; Ohio – OH; Ontario – ON; Pennsylvania – PA; Prince Edward Island – PE, Quebec –QC; Washington - WA Wisconsin – WI; Yukon – YT.	When selecting the name of the Canadian province, territory, or U.S. state for the arrival port	high
#Q029	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Percent Exchange Calculation Formula	other	% Exchange = Total Volume of water moved by “Sequential,” moved by “Flow Through,” or used in “Salt Water Flushing” Capacity of Ballast Tank or Hold × 100	When calculating the percentage of tanks volumetric capacity used to exchange in Column 10	high
#Q030	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Separate Tank and Hold Reporting Requirement	other	Count all tanks separately (e.g., port and starboard tanks should counted separately	When entering the total number of tanks or holds in Section 3, 4, or 5	high
#Q031	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Time Submission Format	other	Enter the time that the report will be sent (UTC) using the 24-hour clock format.		high
#Q032	prohibition	reporting	mandatory	Gross Tonnage Decimal Restriction	other	Enter the gross tonnage of the vessel as established under the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 or any successor Convention. No decimals.		high
#Q033	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Multiple Ballast Source Entry Rule	other	List multiple ballast water sources for the same tank on separate lines.		high
#Q034	reporting	reporting	mandatory	Multi-day Management Completion Date Rule	other	If the exchange or treatment occurred over several days, enter the day when the ballast water management was completed.	When exchange or treatment occurs over several days	high

P Quantitative Requirements (16)

Req ID	Category	Intent	Legal Status	Name	Subdomain(s)	Limit Type	Limit Value	Context	Conditions	Confidence
#P001	operational	operational	recommended	Flow through exchange percentage	other	treatment_goal	>= 300 %	Calculate the percentage of tanks volumetric capacity used to exchange: (Note: for effective flow through exchange, this value should be at least 300%).	When ballast water management by exchange is conducted using the flow through method.	high
#P002	operational	reporting	mandatory	Gross Tonnage reporting precision	other	requirement	0 decimals	Enter the gross tonnage of the vessel as established under the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 or any successor Convention. No decimals.	When entering Gross Tonnage in Section 1 of the BWRF.	high
#P003	operational	reporting	mandatory	Time submission format	other	requirement	24 hour	Enter the time that the report will be sent (UTC) using the 24-hour clock format.		high
#P004	design	reporting	guideline	BWRF Tank Capacity (Small)	other	requirement	20 tanks	The BWRF is available in three (3) configurations – for a vessel with 20, 30 and 50 tanks. Please use the shortest form which allows for the total number of tanks and holds recorded in the vessel’s ballast water management plan (BWMP).	Selection of Form 85-0512-AE.	high
#P005	design	reporting	guideline	BWRF Tank Capacity (Medium)	other	requirement	30 tanks	The BWRF is available in three (3) configurations – for a vessel with 20, 30 and 50 tanks. Please use the shortest form which allows for the total number of tanks and holds recorded in the vessel’s ballast water management plan (BWMP).	Selection of Form 85-0512-BE.	high
#P006	design	reporting	guideline	BWRF Tank Capacity (Large)	other	requirement	50 tanks	The BWRF is available in three (3) configurations – for a vessel with 20, 30 and 50 tanks. Please use the shortest form which allows for the total number of tanks and holds recorded in the vessel’s ballast water management plan (BWMP).	Selection of Form 85-0512-CE.	high
#P007	operational	operational	guideline	Flow through exchange percentage	other	treatment_goal	>= 300 %	Calculate the percentage of tanks volumetric capacity used to exchange: (Note: for effective flow through exchange, this value should be at least 300%).	When ballast water management by exchange is conducted using the flow through method.	high
#P008	operational	reporting	mandatory	Total ballast water volume reporting unit	other	requirement	unknown m3	Volume to be recorded should be in cubic meters (m3) only.	Upon arrival at the 'Arrival port' offshore terminal or anchorage area.	high
#P009	design	reporting	mandatory	Total ballast water capacity reporting unit	other	requirement	unknown m3	Volume to be recorded should be in cubic meters (m3) only.	As documented in the approved vessel's BWMP.	high
#P010	operational	operational	mandatory	Minimum exchange depth	other	requirement	unknown m	Enter the minimum depth in meters during the ballast water exchange or flushing.	Complete this column only if exchange (D-1 only or D-1+D-2) or saltwater flushing has been conducted.	high
#P011	physical	operational	mandatory	Ballast water salinity	other	requirement	unknown ppt	Indicate the salinity of the ballast water in the tanks after the exchange, saltwater flushing or treatment was completed, with units in parts per thousand (ppt).	After exchange, saltwater flushing or treatment completion.	high
#P012	operational	reporting	mandatory	Proposed ballast water discharge volume	other	requirement	unknown m3	Report the expected volume of ballast water to be discharged in cubic meters.	Only if de-ballasting will take place in waters under Canadian jurisdiction.	high
#P013	design	reporting	mandatory	Individual tank volumetric capacity	other	requirement	unknown m3	Enter the maximum volumetric capacity of the tank in cubic meters (m3).	For all ballast tanks/holds recorded in Section 5.	high
#P014	operational	reporting	mandatory	Ballast water volume on arrival per tank	other	requirement	unknown m3	Enter the volume of ballast water in the tank, in cubic meters (m3) on arrival at the port, offshore terminal or anchorage area.	On arrival at the 'Arrival port' listed in Section 2.	high
#P015	operational	reporting	mandatory	Management volume used	other	requirement	unknown m3	Enter total volume of water used for ballast water management for that tank in cubic metres (m3).	Complete this column only if exchange (D-1 only or D-1+D-2) or saltwater flushing has been conducted.	high
#P016	physical	reporting	mandatory	Proposed ballast water discharge salinity	other	requirement	unknown ppt	Indicate the salinity of the ballast water to be discharged in parts per thousand (ppt).	If de-ballasting will take place in waters under Canadian jurisdiction.	high

D Definitions (42)

Req ID	Name	Context	Confidence
#D001	Ballast water	water with its suspended matter taken on board a ship to control trim, list, draught, stability, or stresses of the vessel	high
#D002	Company	the owner of the ship or any other organization or person such as the manager, or the bareboat charterer, who has assumed the responsibility for operation of the ship from the owner of the ship and who on assuming such responsibility has agreed to take over all the duties and responsibilities imposed by the international Safety Management Code	high
#D003	Residual amounts	the quantity of ballast water that cannot be removed from a ballast tank using the equipment installed on the vessel for that purpose	high
#D004	Sediments	matter settled out of ballast water within a vessel	high
#D005	Ballast water	water with its suspended matter taken on board a ship to control trim, list, draught, stability, or stresses of the vessel	high
#D006	Company	the owner of the ship or any other organization or person such as the manager, or the bareboat charterer, who has assumed the responsibility for operation of the ship from the owner of the ship and who on assuming such responsibility has agreed to take over all the duties and responsibilities imposed by the international Safety Management Code	high
#D007	Residual amounts	the quantity of ballast water that cannot be removed from a ballast tank using the equipment installed on the vessel for that purpose	high
#D008	Sediments	matter settled out of ballast water within a vessel	high
#D009	The Regulations	Ballast Water Regulations	high
#D010	TCMSS	Transport Canada Marine Safety and Security	high
#D011	BWRF	Canadian Ballast Water Reporting Form	high
#D012	BWMP	ballast water management plan	high
#D013	The Convention	International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships ‘Ballast Water and Sediments, 2004	high
#D014	Bulk carrier	as defined in SOLAS regulation IX/1, but excludes combination carrier	high
#D015	D-1	ballast water exchange standard	high
#D016	BWMS	IMO Ballast Water Management System	high
#D017	D-2	ballast water performance standard	high
#D018	BWRB	Ballast Water Record Book	high
#D019	IBWMC	International Ballast Water Management Certificate	high
#D020	AMSE	Executive Director, Navigation Safety and Environmental Programs	high
#D021	Container vessel	to be applied only to vessel specifically constructed or adapted to carry containers	high
#D022	General cargo / multipurpose ship	to be used for other cargo vessels when no other ship type code is applicable	high
#D023	Oil tanker	to be applied to vessels only certified to carry mineral oil	high
#D024	Special purpose vessel	to be used only when the Special Purpose Ships Code (SPS Code) is applicable	high
#D025	FP	Forepeak	high
#D026	DB	Double bottom	high
#D027	WT	Wing tank	high
#D028	TS	Topside	high
#D029	AP	Aftpeak	high
#D030	CH	Cargo hold	high
#D031	SM	sequential method	high
#D032	FTM	flow through method	high
#D033	SWF	saltwater flushing	high
#D034	R	retention method	high
#D035	NM	no management	high
#D036	DM	dilution method	high
#D037	PW	potable water	high
#D038	PRF	port reception facility	high
#D039	NLS	noxious liquid substances	high
#D040	IBC Code	International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk	high
#D041	BCH Code	Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Dangerous Chemicals in Bulk	high
#D042	Pollution Convention	International Maritime Organization's Pollution Convention	high