Maritime transport and ballast

water disposal
Impacts and Management
Maritime transportation; the most convenient
global cargo transportation method

Fully loaded cargo ships

 However, going in the sea is a risky
business
• Underweight ships capsize

• Therefore, ballast is used to stabilize the ship

 What is Ballast?
• In transport / nautical terms, ballast is any
dense heavy material, such as lead or iron
pigs, used to enhance stability of a ship
especially when it is not carrying cargo. It is
usually put in the bilge of the vessel.
Keel is the fixed ballast in yachts, boasts and launches etc.
It is made up of lead or iron.
Stone and sand ballast Iron Ballast/Iron pigs

In ancient cargo ships, solid ballast were

used and placed in the lower deck of the
vessel.
They were Problematic:
• Difficult to handle
• Costly operations
• Inconvenient.
Concrete pigs
Modern ships use “water ballast”. Though costly to
operate, its is convenient.

Ballast tanks Ballast tanks Ballast tanks

empty. being filled. full.
Ship is stable. Ship is stable. Ship is stable.
Ballast water is pumped into ballast tanks when a ship has
delivered cargo and is departing with less or no cargo. Large
ships carry millions of gallons of ballast water.
Ballast water pump room
of a ship
Ballast water is released upon loading a ship.

A ballast water trail: This contains sludge,

mud, oily wastes, ship pipe leakages and also
marine plankton.
The threat of ballast water

1. Marine plankton are also pumped into ballast tanks along with the
water.
2. Therefore, the ballast tanks serve as onboard aquaria.
3. The ballast water taken on in one ecological zone is released into
another along with all the surviving organisms.
4. This way, ballast water may introduce organisms (exotic species) into
the port of discharge that do not naturally belong there.
5. Populations of exotic species may grow very quickly in the absence
of natural predators. In that case they are called ‘invasive’.
6. Only few species are successful invaders, because most species are
not able to survive in new surroundings, because temperature, food,
and salinity are less than optimal.
7. However, the species that do survive and establish a population are
very hardy species that have the potential to cause major harm to
ecology, economy or human health.
 Species invasion through ballast water

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 What is a ballast water
invasive species?

A species of organism that comes from some

other place (state, country, continent, or ocean)
along with ballast water and becomes a problem
in its new location by impacting human health,
economy, or the environment.
 Some Notable Examples of invasive species in Europe
(source: Globast/GEF, UNDP, IMO-poster)

Mitten Crab (Eiocheir sinensis)

Mitten crabs travels far and in huge numbers to reproduce. They burrows into river banks
and dykes causing erosion and siltation. Mitten crabs prey on native fish and invertebrate
species, causing local extinction of these species. They also interfere with fishing activities
by for example cut nets.
They have ‘hairy claws’ so that
they are called mitten crabs
Comb Jelly (Mnemiopsis leidyi)
Reproduces rapidly (self fertilising hermaphrodite) under favourable conditions. It feeds
excessively on zooplankton. Depletes zooplankton stocks; altering food web and
ecosystem function. Contributed significantly to collapse of Black and Asov Sea fisheries
in 1990s, with massive economic and social impact. Now threatens similar impact in
Caspian Sea.
Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha)
These mussels foul all available hard surfaces in mass numbers and displace native
organisms. By doing so, they alter habitat, ecosystem and food web. Zebra mussels cause
severe fouling problems on infrastructure and vessels, for instance by blocking water
intake pipes. Economic cost are enormous.

Zebra mussels in pipe

Examples of Impacts

 Zebra mussels cost $100s million per year in U.S. to

remove from water pipes, screens, intakes
 Aquatic plants (Hydrilla, Egeria, Water Hyacinth) and
seaweed invasions (Caulerpa in So. CA) cost CA $$
millions per year
 In CA, Chinese mitten crabs, European green crabs
and other have also resulted in substantial costs
Toxic Algae (Red/Brown/Green Tides) Various species
Toxic algae may form harmful algae blooms, and can cause massive kills of marine life.
Some species may contaminate shellfish and cause fisheries to be closed. Consumption of
these contaminated shellfish by humans may cause severe illness and even death.
 Biological Impacts of
Ballast water IVs
• An invasive species can displace or out compete native animals
and plants for food or space

• An invasive species can cause the extinction of native species

by introducing new diseases and/or parasites or preying on
natives and wiping them out.

• They can drastically disrupt fragile marine ecosystems.

• They harm the environment by reducing water quality in some

way.
 Economic Impacts of Ballast
water IVS
• Invasions can reduce marine production rates, and
affect marine fisheries

• Combating invasions can be costly (i.e., bio-control,

mechanical clean-up, use of chemicals)

• Control costs are usually passed onto consumers and

general taxpayers.
Management of Ballast water; Many methods

1.Mid-ocean ballast exchange

The most widely used method.
Ships on their way to the next port release the lower-salinity coastal water
they brought aboard in their last port and replace it with higher-salinity open-
ocean water.
It reduces the number of potentially invasive species in the ballast tanks and
replaces them with oceanic organisms that are less likely to survive in the
lower-salinity near-shore waters of the ship’s next port.
2. Ballast water treatment.
Mechanical methods
filtration and separation

Physical methods
sterilization by ultraviolet light, ozone, heat, electric current,
or ultrasound),

Chemical methods
Biocides usage.

Heat Treatment
Benefits of the UV technology

1. Lowest power consumption (lowest

power draw of any UV and
Filtration Ballast Water Treatment
system)
2. Easy installation (compact design
fits through hatches)
3. Smallest footprint (nearly 50%
smaller than competitive systems)
4. Environmentally-friendly treatment
(absolutely no chemicals used)
5. No impact on ballast water
treatment corrosion or coatings
(confidence that treatment will not
impact ballast water tanks)
 Unfortunately, no
ballast water treatment
method can completely
eliminate the risk of
introducing exotic
species.
3. Legal methods
The UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted the Global
Ballast Convention in 2004. It states that:

1. Ballast water must be treated before it’s released into another ecological
zone

2. Vessels built during or after 2009 have to install a type approved Ballast
Water Treatment system immediately once the convention enters into force

3. Vessels built before 2009 must install a certified Ballast Water Treatment
system by 2014 or 2016 (depending on ballast water capacity of the vessel)

4. For the convention to come into force, it must be ratified by at least 30

countries representing 35 percent of the global fleet's dead weight tonnage.
Full ratification was expected in late 2011.
4. Other methods
 Awareness Raising
 Political engagement
 Policy and legislation development
 Risk assessment
 Biological surveys (Ports)
 Compliance monitoring
 Regional Strategy Development
 Short Courses:
- Introductory Course on Ballast Water
Management
- Management of Invasive Species in Marine
& Coastal Environments
- Training Course on Port Biological Baseline
Surveys
27
5. Integrated Ballast water management

Treatment may combine several of the above methods.

Sri Lankan Experience: A case study

Invasion of alien plankton to

Colombo harbour through
ballast water;
a preliminary study.
Why this study???
• MPPA (now MEPA), needs information on
this area.

• No previous studies carried out in Sri Lanka.

• Mutual agreement between UOK and MPPA

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Objective was to find out;
• whether there are alien plankton in
the ballast tanks
What did we do?
 3 Sampling sites

Pamunugama

Colombo inner Harbour

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5 sampling sites within the Colombo harbour

1 Pilot station
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2. Jaya Container Terminal
3. CDL dock No. 4
4. Bandaranayke Quay
5. Channel berth

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 Going for Sampling along the Pamunugama
and Panadura Coast line

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 Panadura coast

1 2 3 4 5
500 m

1.5 – 2.0 km

Coast

Five sub sampling sites were

selected randomly.

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 Pamunugama Coast

1 2 3 4 5
500 m

1.5 – 2.0 km

Coast

• Five sub sampling sites were selected

randomly.

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Collected Plankton by dragging the plankton
net for about 5m over the water surface.

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Ballast tanks of some Ships were also sampled

• YM Dubai,
• X-PRESS RESOLVE,
• Floria-Panama,
• HANJIN
• IRENES RESPECT

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Later, Plankton were identified to the nearest
possible taxonomic category and their density was
determined using a Sedgwick rafter cell.

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 Some Plankton found in this study

Eg; Copepods

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Species abundance data matrix-1

Altogether 164 taxa of plankton were

found in all plankton samples.
Ballast watrer samples- 58 sp
Inner harbour- 68 sp
Panadura- 69 sp
Pamunugama- 56 sp

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 Species abundance data matrix-2

Ballast water samples

58 taxa 28 taxa only in
Ballast water samples

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 Ballast water samples
58 taxa 28 taxa only in
Ballast water samples

They were not found

in the local samples.

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 Alert!!
• Threat of species invasion
• Not only plankton

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 Thilan Fernando, Department of Zoology
University of Kelaniya
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