The Alternatives of Ballast Water System

Abstract

To eliminate the introduction of invasive marine species and the disadvantages of ballast water (BW) treatment systems a new concept in ship design was developed to be alternative of ballast water system. Non-Ballast ships were rarely mentioned in China even they were studied widely worldwide. In this paper, the different types of non-ballast water ship were reviewed, to be classified in order to facilitate the study of such types of vessels and serve as a base for the development.

Ballast Water Utopia and Some Environmental Protection Ideas

“…This gives the vessel stability as the weight of the vessel and its displacement in the water have to be carefully managed throughout the voyage which is all part of vessel stability. It has been said that water-based ballast systems and ship ballasting increased with the advent of steel-hulled ships [17]. Ships with ballast water systems are not only those that engage in the carriage of goods, for example, the dredger, ILembe, a Hopper Dredger flying under the South African flag, registered under IMO number 9741891 has a ballast water system which pumps in or out ballast water depending on how much sand and other by-products of dredging are taken on board the vessel.…”

The marine environment and ballast water management law

“…The BWM Convention sets out the threat of aquatic invasive species (AIS) and provides regulations dealing with that threat (Article 1, Preamble of the BWM Convention). The threat of AIS refers to invasive species and other organisms that are transported between trading partners through shipping transport as the main vector (Elkady et al, 2014). This occurs as a result of seawater being pumped in and out of ships in order to stabilize the vessels between empty and laden voyages into and out of various foreign ports.…”

“…The use of ballast water in modern shipping began with the introduction of steel-hulled vessels about 120 years ago (Walton, 1899;EPA, 1999;Elkady et al, 2014). This practice of 'ballasting' modern vessels is necessary to improve ship stability and manoeuvrability while compensating for weight loss resulting from fuel and water consumption.…”

“…While showing promise, and worthy of further considerations, ballastless ship designs appear feasible only for new vessels being built in the future and may result in an overall increase in vessel biofouling (another significant source of invasive species), if surfaces in open flow-through spaces are more accessible and hospitable than traditional ballast tank surfaces (which are rarely fouled by higher organisms). Similarly, a return to the historical approach of using solid ballast (commonly iron, cement, gravel or sand) has been discussed recently but may not be feasible or cost-effective for most vessels in the modern merchant fleet (EPA, 2011a(EPA, , 2011bElkady et al, 2014).…”