Ballast Water Risk Indication for the North Sea

Abstract

The ballast water from ships carries marine organisms that have invasive potential. The International Maritime Organization Ballast Water Management Convention (2004) requires ballast water exchange or ballast water management (BWM) systems either onboard or ashore. Ships can be exempted on the basis of risk assessment, when exclusively sailing between specific ports or in an enclosed area. In reply to our questionnaire, the shipping sector argues that the North Sea is ecologically homogeneous and exemptions could therefore be granted. This paper proposes that the North Sea area is, in fact, not homogeneous in terms of hydrographical and biological conditions; therefore, ballast water is a relevant transport mechanism for organisms. Within the North Sea, the short shipping routes indicate a high risk for survival. We examined actual simulation models for ballast water risk assessment in the North Sea, and we have identified the major parameters that need to be included in such models. These models provided a basis; they further need to be combined and adapted for the purpose of evaluating the rationale for an exemption. We concluded that exemptions from BWM are not recommended for the North Sea area. Anticipating the Ballast Water Management Convention, ship owners might do well to study possibilities for installing BWM systems onboard.

Maritime transportation: Let's slow down a bit

“…de Castro et al ( 2017) defined this issue as out of control. Reducing speed would lengthen voyage duration, which is negatively correlated to larva survival rate and related establishment rate for species introduced by ballast waters (Davidson et al, 2018;van der Meer et al, 2016).…”

Instruments Used in Short Sea Shipping Research between 2002 and 2019

“…The fourth research area involves energy efficiency, emission and environmental issue and protection ( [123], [61], [116], [40], [70], [125], [116], [52], [47], [121], [58], [55], [106], [49], [48], [67], [53], [23], and [133].This is followed by ports and transport system efficiency, cargo operations, inventory management, competitive SSS technology and ICT. ( [137], [57], [33], [22], [41], [135], [108], [76], [28], [104], [83], [45], [100], [1], [114], [129], [26], [98], [31], [95], [107], as well as [56].…”

“…On the other hand, [126] employed Discrete Event Simulation to investigate sustainability development in SSS. Finally, [125] [97] also employed the same instrument to explore on the logistics link and externalities for SSS transport. This study disclose that savings in intermodal transportation costs and a slight decrease in externalities with respect to land transportation.…”