Question

Explain in details the environmental impact of ballast water in ship operation and discuss the role of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (Ballast Water Management Convention or BWM Convention). Your answer should not be more than 2 pages (typed).

Answer 1

Ballast water is essential for safe and efficient modern shipping operations. But ballast water also impacts serious ecological problems. The ballast water includes bacteria, microbes, small invertebrates, eggs, cysts, and larvae of various species. When these transferred species into sea survive in the new host environment, becoming invasive species. At the end, the ballast water impacts native species that may be multiplying into pest proportions.

What is ballast water?

Ballast water is essential for the safe operation of ships. It provides stability and maneuverability during loading and unloading operations. Ballast water is loaded on board to achieve the safe operating conditions for ships. Among others, this includes keeping the ship deep enough in the water to ensure efficient propeller and smooth operation.

Water has a high weight-to-volume ratio and is carried in separate tanks used just for ballast. When a vessel is departing a port, water and any sediment that may be stirred up, is loaded into the ballast tanks and unloaded again when it takes on cargo at the next port. However, the process of loading and unloading untreated ballast water poses a major threat to the environment and public health as ballast water impacts the transfer of organisms between ecosystems, from one part of the world to another.

How does the ballast water impact?

When ballast water is loaded many microscopic organisms and sediments are introduced into the ships ballast tanks. Many of these organisms are able to survive in these tanks. Ballast water impacts the environment when the ballast water is discharged and the organisms are released into new environments. If suitable conditions exist in this release environment, these species will survive and reproduce and become invasive species. In some cases, there is a high probability that the organism will become a dominant species, and will impact as the:-

• The extinction of native species
• Effects on local and regional biodiversity
• Effects on coastal industries that use water extraction
• Effects on public health
• Impacts on local economies based on fisheries

Ballast water impacts the biodiversity

The problem of invasive species in ships’ ballast water is largely due to the expanded trade and traffic volume over the last few decades and, since the volumes of seaborne trade continue to increase, the problem may not yet have reached its peak yet. The effects in many areas of the world have been devastating. Actually invasive aquatic species are one of the four greatest threats to the world’s oceans. Quantitative data show that the rate of bio-invasions is continuing to increase at an alarming rate and new areas are being invaded all the time. Species from the ballast water are referred to as non-native species and invasive when their introduction causes or is likely to cause, harm to the environment, the economy, or human health.

The introduction and spread of these invasive species is a serious global threat to marine and freshwater ecosystems. New species may completely alter the local communities, drive species to extinction as well as cause economic damage as nuisance species.

Results of the ballast water impacts

New non-native species are constantly being discovered. This is partly explained by the increase in trade and travel. Climate change is indeed another important factor. With generally higher temperatures, a longer growing season, and shorter, milder winters, it will become easier for the species to establish populations. These are species that could have serious impacts on ecosystems and threaten native species if they become established.

Some examples of actual and possible effects of non-native aquatic animals which have recently been introduced due to ships ballast are:

• Round Goby. The round goby poses a serious threat to the aquatic ecosystems, with potential impacts on commercial fishing.
• Comb Jellyfish. The invasion of the Baltic Sea by a voracious comb jellyfish from North America is one of the best-documented examples of a marine alien invasive species introduced through ballast water. It eats both zooplankton, the food of commercially important fish, and the eggs and larvae of the same fish species.
• Chinese Mitten Crab. The Chinese mitten crab has been found all over the coastal Baltic Sea and also in some adjacent rivers and lakes. It outcompetes native species of crayfish for food and space and can cause a decline in the populations of native species.

How can the ballast water impacts cause damage?

Many species are unable to adapt to a new environment or are harmless if they do survive, but others pose a threat to native plants and animals. They may impact by:-

• Compete with native species for food and/or habitat
• Alter the habitat in which they live
• Carry diseases or parasites
• Hybridism with native species
• Increase the risk that already threatened species will become extinct, or displace native species from an area

In response, to the threat, the IMO has enacted more stringent regulations on how ballast water must be handled by ships. Currently, there are two standards of ballast water treatment, D1, and D2. D1 regulations require ships to discharge ballast water in open seas, at least 200 nautical miles from shore in water that is at least 200m deep. D1 regulations also require ships to carry a ballast water plan on board, detailing how the ship will follow the regulations as well as a record of when ballast water was taken on board, discharged, or treated. Most ships currently operating on the water follow only D1 regulations, but the IMO has implemented a plan to phase all ships to D2 regulations, which are stricter and set limits on the amount of specific indicator microbes that can be discharged, by 2024. Phasing into new regulations is putting stress on many shipowners and shipping companies because though there are around a hundred ballast water treatment systems available on the market, only six of these systems are approved by the IMO. This makes it difficult for shipowners to adopt systems that both satisfy IMO regulations and fit the specificities of their ships. The US Coast Guard in particular has placed special emphasis on ships having “USCG type-approved ballast water management systems or an approved Alternative Management System (AMS). After five years, the AMS must either achieve USCG type-approval or be replaced with a type-approved system” (Ship-Technology). These guidelines are being strictly enforced on both US flagships as well as foreign ships that operate in US waters. Though the IMO is less strict, it is clear that the world recognizes the dangers of ballast water.

Above D1 and D2 regulations are the result of, BWM Convention. Originally stated as:-

"Annex - Section D Standards for Ballast Water Management":-
Regulation D-1 Ballast Water Exchange Standard - Ships performing Ballast Water exchange shall do so with an efficiency of 95 percent volumetric exchange of Ballast Water. For ships exchanging ballast water by the pumping-through method, pumping through three times the volume of each ballast water tank shall be considered to meet the standard described. Pumping through less than three times the volume may be accepted provided the ship can demonstrate that at least 95 percent volumetric exchange is met.

Regulation D-2 Ballast Water Performance Standard - Ships conducting ballast water management shall discharge less than 10 viable organisms per cubic meter greater than or equal to 50 micrometers in minimum dimension and less than 10 viable organisms per milliliter less than 50 micrometers in minimum dimension and greater than or equal to 10 micrometers in minimum dimension; and discharge of the indicator microbes shall not exceed the specified concentrations.