TREATMENT OF BALLAST WATER ON BOARD SHIPS

摘要

Shipping is essential for global trade, and ballast water is essential for shipping. Up to 50% of the deadweight tonnage of a ship consists of ballast water. The total quantity transferred around the world every year is estimated as 3-5 billion t. Discharge of ballast water contributes substantially to the spread of aquatic invasive species, with irreversible damage to local ecosystems and economies. In 2004, the international community adopted the International Ballast Water Management Convention, which establishes limits for the number of organisms in discharged ballast water (Table 1). To achieve these standards, biocidal treatment of ballast water will be necessary, and ballast water management systems (BWMS) will need to be installed on >50,000 ships once the Convention enters into force. During the last 10 years, >30 BWMS have been developed based on physical and chemical methods for water purification.