Ballast Water Management Decision Support System Model Application - Global Maritime Transport and Ballast Water Management: Issues and Solutions - page 267

A critical situation arises when ballast water is assessed as to pose an extreme
risk (e.g., because of the presence of harmful algae blooms or indicator microbes in
the source port) as the BWM DSS model decision would conclude that these vessels
would not be allowed to discharge unmanaged ballast water. Special consideration
was given to the vessels sailing to the Port of Koper from ports situated north of the
Palagruža Island. It was recognised that a deviation of these vessels to conduct
BWE in the BWEA would not be reasonable, therefore this would be considered as
undue delay limit.
When planning feasible BWM options for the DSS in relation to the BWEA, it is
critical to know:

- the BWEA location and dimensions;

- vessel traffi c patterns, i.e., main intended routes, vessels speed, navigational

constraints;

- ballast water patterns, i.e., ballast water quantity per vessel, ballast water PRC

per vessel, and

- data on source ports, i.e., position, data needs for RA.

In general weather conditions in the Adriatic BWEA were assessed as not critical
to prevent BWE in the majority of time in a year. There is also no monitoring
programme for HAOP in the simulated BWEA, and there was also no previous
record of HAOP in the simulated BWEA. Based on this DSS assumes for the
Adriatic Sea BWEA that there are always good weather conditions and no HAOP
are present in the BWEA. This provides a solid data framework for the application
of the BWM DSS in case of the Port of Koper.

The Main “Intended” and “Deviated” Routes in the Adriatic
in Relation to the Ballast Water Exchange Area

In the northern Adriatic Sea, the vessel traffi c is regulated by the traffi c separation
schemes adopted by IMO ( 2008 ). In the central part, there is an additional separation
scheme next to Palagruža Island which is also used by vessels.
The movements of vessels in the Adriatic are observed by coastal states primarily
using radar and Automatic Identifi cation Systems (AIS). To assess the intended
routes of vessels, AIS data were used. It was recognized that the main routes for
vessels sailing from Mediterranean ports to the northern Adriatic, e.g., Port of
Koper, from the Otranto Straight northwards tend to go close to the Italian coast and
then through the separation scheme next to Palagruža Island, and continue to the
separation schemes in the northern Adriatic.
To assess the necessary deviations from vessels intended routes to conduct BWE
in the BWEA, a map was prepared showing the BWEA and the intended routes of
vessels sailing to the Port of Koper from source ports located outside the Adriatic
Sea, as well as from those within the Adriatic. It became clear that vessels sailing
from ports situated northwest of the BWEA would need to deviate substantially to