Logistics of shipboard and dockside testing of ballast water treatment systems in the United States

Abstract

It is now widely accepted that ballast water, used to maintain ships’ trim and stability, is a major vector for the unintentional introduction of non-indigenous organisms into coastal waters (Carlton and Geller 1993, Carlton et al. 1995). Ballast capacities range from several cubic meters (m3 or tonnes) in the case of fishing boats to hundreds of thousands of tonnes in very large bulk carriers, where ballasting rates can be as high as 15,000–20,000 tonnes h–1. Ballast water discharges were recognized as an international concern as early as 1973, when the United Nations requested the World Health Organization to investigate the spread of epidemic disease spread by ballast water. The U.N. International Maritime Organization (IMO) first adopted a voluntary ballast water exchange standard in 1991 and in 1997; after several subsequent revisions and enhancements, the IMO Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) adopted the IMO guidelines for management of ships’ ballast water.