Biofouling Management Plan and Record Book - 1st Edition (2026)

Biofouling Management Plan

Part I constitutes the ship-specific biofouling management plan developed in accordance with the 2023 Biofouling Guidelines. The plan opens with an introduction that sets out the background to biofouling and the regulatory context of the Guidelines.
Section 2 provides definitions drawn from the 2023 Guidelines.
Section 3 establishes the revision control process for the BFMP, which should be reviewed regularly and re-evaluated after each dry-docking.
Section 4 states the purpose and objectives of the plan and identifies the documents and appendices that must be readily available on board for the relevant authorities.
Sections 5 through 9 address the ship's operating profile, the description of hull and niche areas where biofouling may accumulate, the location of those areas on the ship, the description of all applied anti-fouling systems (AFC, MGPS, and other AFS), and the mapping of which areas are protected by which system.
Section 10 sets out the inspection schedule for hull and niche areas, incorporating the fouling rating scale (ratings 0 to 4, from no fouling through to heavy macrofouling at 41-100% surface coverage).
Sections 11 and 12 address reactive cleaning and proactive cleaning, respectively. Reactive cleaning may be initiated where inspections identify a fouling rating of 2 or above, subject to the ship?s operating profile and the requirements of the relevant authority.
Section 13 addresses the monitoring of biofouling risk parameters and contingency actions.
Section 14 covers the handling, capture and disposal of biological waste generated from in-water or dry-dock cleaning of hull and niche areas, in accordance with the requirements of the relevant authority.
Section 15 addresses safety procedures for the ship and crew associated with the AFC and MGPS systems, including Safety Data Sheet (SDS) information, and Section 16 sets out responsibilities, duties, crew training and familiarisation requirements.
Part II provides record tables for completion with ship-specific data, covering the dry docking schedule, BFMP revisions, the ship's operating profile, hull and niche area descriptions, AFC, MGPS and other AFS details, areas protected by AFS, inspection schedules, niche area details, reactive cleaning, proactive cleaning, and monitoring of biofouling risk parameters with contingency actions.
Part III provides for four appendices: a copy of the IAFSC (Appendix I), the ship-specific description of the onboard anti-fouling system (Appendix II), a description of areas on the ship susceptible to biofouling with ship diagrams (Appendix III), and safety procedures for the ship and crew during anti-fouling operations, including SDS information (Appendix IV).

Biofouling Record Book (BRB)
The Record Book comprises two parts.
Part I records biofouling management activities using four code categories: proactive cleaning (Code A), inspection (Code B), reactive cleaning (Code C), and additional operational procedures and general remarks (Code D).
Part II records the monitoring of biofouling risk parameters using nine code categories.

Systematic use of this Biofouling Management Plan and Biofouling Record Book enables the Master to:
- Provide an auditable record of all biofouling management activities, inspections, cleaning operations and contingency actions.
- Maintain hull and niche area biofouling at or below the target fouling rating of 1, reducing the risk of transfer of invasive aquatic species.

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