Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Overall Conclusions on the Ballast Water
Issue and Its Management Options
Matej David and Stephan Gollasch
Abstract
Ballast water management was demonstrated to be a complex issue,
hence there are no simple solutions. The BWM Convention was adopted to support
globally a uniform approach to prevent harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens to
be further spread around the world by ballast water and sediment releases, considering
the aspects of safe and effi cient operations of shipping, while at the same time
providing for the protection of natural environments, human health, property and
resources. The conclusions and the current state of knowledge is summarized
here and presented thematically sorted as per the topic chapters. The overall fi nal
conclusions are presented at the end including an outlook highlighting future ballast
water management related issues which need to be solved.
Keywords
Ballast water • Harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens • Invasive
species • Transfer • Ballast water management • Ballast water risk assessment
• Ballast water management decision support system
Vessels and Ballast Water
When a vessel is not fully laden, i.e., a situation when she is not at her maximum
allowed draft, additional weight is required to compensate for the increased
buoyancy in order to provide for the vessel's seaworthiness. This implies that not only
commercial vessels, but also other vessels use ballast water to provide for adequate
seaworthiness. Even when a vessel is fully laden ballast water operations may be
needed due to a non-equal distribution of weights on the vessel. Other dynamic
factors may also require ballast water operations, such as weather and sea conditions
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