Ballast water has received considerable attention globally over the past several years. Alien species, ranging from jellyfish to algae are among the invader species being carried by ships today as they travel the waters.
Ballast, especially when a ship is empty, is used to maintain balance, stability and structural integrity. For thousand of years ships carried (solid) ballast in the form of rocks, metal and sand. Modern ships use water as ballast. An estimated twelve billion tons of ballast water is carried around the world each year.
In order to balance and stabilize a vessel it must take on water by storing it in tanks and depending on where the ballast water is taken on board from, it may either be saltwater, fresh or brackish and is loaded with thousands of marine species that can invade new environments when released in different ports. Freed from predators and parasites, survivors of these voyages can thrive in new habitats. This in turn has had a negative economic effect, as fisheries, tourism and other commercial activities are disrupted.
Musseling In
One example of an invader species is the Zebra Mussel, believed to have been transported to the Great Lakes via ballast water from a transoceanic vessel. The ballast water, taken on in a freshwater European port was subsequently discharged into Lake St. Clair, near Detroit, where it was discovered in 1988.Musseling In
Other examples include jellyfish from North America that were transported to the Black Sea and also a Japanese dinoflagellate that ended up in Australia.
"The estimated damage from invasive species worldwide totals more that $1.4 trillion annually -- 5 percent of the global economy," says the report issued on the sidelines of a major U.N. meeting in Japan aimed at combating the destruction of nature, says one Reuters article.
In 2004, the United Nations agency responsible for maritime issues, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted a new convention to establish global provisions to control and manage ships' ballast water to prevent the transfer of aquatic invasive species (AIS).
The IMO Ballast Water Convention requirement is that all ships are able to conduct ballast water treatment onboard by 2016.
This implementation is sure to safeguard some of the worlds ecosystems from invader species and will provide new business opportunities within ballast water management systems.
Some of that convention came to the following:
- All ships will be required to implement a Ballast Water and Sediments Management Plan;
- All ships have to carry a Ballast Water Record Book and will be required to implement ballast water management procedures to a given standard;
- All ships will be required to install a treatment system by specific years (as early as 2009 and as late as 2016, depending on the size of the ship);
- Signatory nations are authorized to adopt more stringent regulations of ballast water;
- The treaty will take effect after it is ratified by 30 nations, respecting 35 % of the world's gross tonnage
In order for the Ballast Water Management Convention to be ratified 30 nation and 35% of the world's merchant shipping tonnage must sign up. As of August 2010, 26 nations representing 25% of the worlds tonnage have signed up. The ratification is a question of "when" and not "if" and is anticipated to happen late 2011 or beginning of 2012.
Click here to see the IMO Ballast Water Management Convention time Schedule.
With environmental sustainability becoming ever more critical, the effective and safe treatment of ballast water is also becoming an increasingly important issue.
Sources:
http://www.globallastwaterindia.com/facts_faqs.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-brackish-water.htm
http://www.great-lakes.net/envt/flora-fauna/invasive/zebra.html
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5294&page=11
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69L13M20101022
http://www.imo.org/Pages/home.aspx
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafety/oep-environment-ballastwater-management-1963.htm
http://www.glc.org/about/resolutions/04/05imoconvention.html
http://www.wilhelmsen.com/services/maritime/companies/umss/WSEenvironmentalsystems/ballastwatertreatmentsystem/Pages/BWTIMOConvention.aspx
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Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos